|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2013‒03‒23
29 papers chosen by |
| By: | Ahearn, Mary |
| Abstract: | Beginning farmers and ranchers have some unique characteristics, including more education and more off-farm jobs, compared with established farmers and ranchers. |
| Keywords: | Beginning farmers, beginning ranchers, Agricultural Resource Management Survey, ARMS, USDA programs, farmland, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uerseb:146309&r=agr |
| By: | Haile, Mekbib G.; Kalkuhl, Matthias; von Braun, Joachim |
| Abstract: | Understanding how producers make decisions to allot acreage among crops and how decisions about land use are affected by changes in prices and their volatility is fundamental for predicting the supply of staple crops and, hence, assessing the global food supply situation. The innovations of the present paper are estimates of monthly (i.e. seasonal) versus annual global acreage response models for four staple crops: wheat, soybeans, corn and rice. We focus on the impact of (expected) crop prices, oil and fertilizer prices and market risks as main determinants for farmers’ decisions on how to allocate their land. Primary emphasis is given to the magnitude and speed of the allocation process. Estimation of intra-annual acreage elasticity is crucial for expected supply and for input demand, especially in the light of the recent short-term volatility in food prices. Such aggregate estimates are also valuable to verify whether involved country-specific estimations add up to patterns that are apparent in the aggregate international data. The econometric results indicate that global crop acreage responds to crop prices and price risks, input costs as well as a time trend. Depending on respective crop, short-run elasticities are about 0.05 to 0.25; price volatility tends to reduce acreage response of some crops; comparison of the annual and the monthly acreage response elasticities suggests that acreage adjusts seasonally around the globe to new information and expectations. Given the seasonality of agriculture, time is of the essence for acreage response: The analysis indicates that acreage allocation is more sensitive to prices in northern hemisphere spring than in winter and the response varies across months. |
| Keywords: | food price volatility, acreage response, price expectation, land use, food supply, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, O11, O13, Q11, Q13, Q18, Q24, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:145308&r=agr |
| By: | Martin, John; Hewson, Roy; McCawley, Peter |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare90:145211&r=agr |
| By: | Hardaker, J. Brian; Fleming, Euan M.; Patten, Louise H. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare89:144733&r=agr |
| By: | Nakuja, Tekuni; Kerr, William A. |
| Abstract: | Food safety regulations limit trade in bioproducts. Every country, however, has a duty to protect its citizens from food safety hazards. If risks are increasing under an existing food safety system then a strengthening of the regulatory regime can be justified, with the inevitable negative impacts on international trade. Alternatively, raising food safety standards may simply be undertaken for reasons of economic protection The US has recently enacted new food safety regulations under the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA) on the basis that foodborne diseases associated with domestic and imported food were on the rise. An assessment of the official justification of the FSMA is undertaken through an examination of trends in foodborne disease incidence. The results show that while the incidence of disease have increased over recent years, suggesting legitimate reasons for concern, some of the FSMA’s provisions may violate WTO commitments designed to constrain economic protectionism. |
| Keywords: | : food borne illness, food safety, international trade, protectionism, regulation, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:catpcp:145969&r=agr |
| By: | Roberto Guerrero Compean |
| Abstract: | Using data for all 2,454 municipalities of Mexico for the period 1980-2010, this paper analyzes the relationship between exposure to extreme temperatures and precipitation and death, as well as the relationship between severe weather and agricultural income and crop production in the country. It is found that extreme heat increases mortality, while the health effect of extreme cold is generally trivial. Precipitation extremes seem to affect the agricultural system, but their impact on mortality is ambiguous. More specifically, exchanging one day with a temperature of 16-18C for one day with temperatures higher than 30C increases the crude mortality rate by 0. 15 percentage points, a result robust to several model specifications. It is also found that the extreme heat effect on death is significantly more acute in rural regions, leading to increases of up to 0. 2 percentage points vis-‡-vis a 0. 07-point increase in urban areas. The timing of climate extremes is relevant: if a weather shock takes place during the agricultural growing season, the effects on mortality and agricultural output, productivity, prices, and crop yields are large and significant, but not so if such shocks occur during the non-growing season. |
| JEL: | I12 Q12 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:idb-wp-391&r=agr |
| By: | Marc Pourroy; Benjamin Carton; Dramane Coulibaly |
| Abstract: | The two episodes of food price surges in 2007 and 2011 have been particularly challenging for developing and emerging economies’ central banks and have raised the question of how monetary authorities should react to such external relative price shocks. We develop a new-Keynesian small open-economy model and show that non-food inflation is a good proxy for core inflation in high-income countries, but not for middle-income and low-income countries. Although, in these countries we find that associating non-food inflation and core inflation may be promoting badly-designed policies, and consequently central banks should target headline inflation rather than non-food inflation. This result holds because non-tradable food represents a significant share in total consumption. Indeed, the poorer the country, the higher the share of purely domestic food in consumption and the more detrimental lack of attention to the evolution in food prices. |
| Keywords: | Monetary Policy, Commodities, Food prices, DSGE models |
| JEL: | E32 E52 O23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2013-7&r=agr |
| By: | Martinez, Stephen W. |
| Abstract: | This study tracks food products introduced from 1989 to 2010 to better understand the adoption of voluntary health- and nutrition-related claims by companies. New food products introduced with health- and nutrition-related claims accounted for 43.1 percent of all new U.S. food product introductions in 2010, up from 25.2 percent in 2001 and 34.6 percent in 1989. The reduction in health- and nutrition-related claims from 1989 to 2001 followed enactment of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA). The NLEA required most food products to carry the Nutrition Facts label and established labeling rules for the use of voluntary nutrient content and health claims. Overall growth in health- and nutrition-related claims after 2001 reflect increases in low/no calorie, whole grain, high fiber, and low/no sugar claims, along with relatively new claims related to no gluten, no trans fats, antioxidants, and omega-3. This period was characterized by nutrition information and education campaigns targeting obesity. Recent increases in healthand nutrition-related claim use also reflect evolving consumer needs and preferences for foods that promote a healthy lifestyle and disease-fighting capabilities, and new labeling regulations directed at trans fats. |
| Keywords: | nutrient content claims, health claims, new products, food labeling regulations, nutrition information, dietary recommendations, functional foods, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:145319&r=agr |
| By: | Webb, Ian |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare90:145458&r=agr |
| By: | Fuglie, Keith O.; Rada, Nicholas E. |
| Abstract: | Agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains low and is falling farther behind other regions of the world. Although agricultural output growth in the region has accelerated since the 1990s, this has been primarily due to resource expansion rather than to higher productivity. Yet there is evidence that agricultural productivity growth has improved in some countries. Enhanced productivity is correlated with investments in agricultural research, wider adoption of new technologies, and policy reforms that have strengthened economic incentives to farmers. Many of the technological improvements have come from the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers. Benefits from the CGIAR in SSA are estimated to be over $6 for each $1 invested. Returns to national agricultural research are also robust, at least for large countries. But overall investment in agricultural research has remained low, and increases in research capacity will likely be necessary to significantly accelerate agricultural growth in the region. Other constraints to agricultural productivity include government policies that reduce earnings in the farm sector, the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus, and armed conflict within and between countries. |
| Keywords: | national agricultural research systems, technology adoption, returns to research, structural adjustment, total factor productivity (TFP), CGIAR, international agricultural research., International Development, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:145368&r=agr |
| By: | Algieri, Bernardina |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade, commodity prices have registered substantial booms and busts marked by extreme volatility. Wheat in particular, one of the main non-oil commodities, has registered a roller-coaster in price levels which seems to be inconsistent with supply and demand fundamentals. To acutely investigate the drivers of wheat prices and quantify their impact, a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) has been used. The exogenous variables have been distinguished into four groups: market-specific factors, broad macroeconomic determinants, speculative components, and weather variables. The quadriangulation of the determinants will enable us to better understand the movements in wheat price and identify the specific role of each component. The results show a mix of short and long term factors that are contributing to wheat price movements, and their effect should be taken into account in designing proper policy intervention to mitigate the negative impact of price shocks. |
| Keywords: | wheat price, fundamentals, speculation, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, C22, E31, Q11, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:145556&r=agr |
| By: | Andrea Bastianin; Marzio Galeotti; Matteo Manera |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between biofuels and commodity food prices in the U.S. from a new perspective. While a large body of literature has tried to explain the linkages between sample means and volatilities associated with ethanol and agricultural price returns, little is known about their whole distributions. We focus on predictability in distribution by asking whether ethanol returns can be used to forecast different parts of field crops returns distribution, or vice versa. Density forecasts are constructed using Conditional Autoregressive Expectile models estimated with Asymmetric Least Squares. Forecast evaluation relies on quantile-weighed scoring rules, which identify regions of the distribution of interest to the analyst. Results show that both the centre and the left tail of the ethanol returns distribution can be predicted by using field crops returns. On the contrary, there is no evidence that ethanol can be used to forecast any region of the field crops distribution. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, Ethanol, Field Crops, Density Forecasting, Granger Causality, Quantiles |
| JEL: | C22 C53 Q13 Q42 Q47 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:241&r=agr |
| By: | Singh, Krishna M.; Singh, R.K.P.; Meena, M.S.; Kumar, Abhay |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Water is essential for human survival but water-related illnesses are the most common health threat in the developing world. An estimated 25 000 people die every day as a result of water-related diseases Human existence depends on water. Water interacts with solar energy to determine climate and it transforms and transports the physical and chemical substances necessary for all life on earth. Competition among agriculture, industry and cities for limited water supplies is already constraining development efforts in many countries including India. As populations expand and economies grow, the competition for limited supplies is most likely to intensify, resulting in potential conflict situation among water users in days to come. Despite shortages of water, its misuse is widespread, be it in small communities or large cities, farmers or industries, developing countries or industrialized economies every where the mismanagement of water resources is evident. Surface water quality is deteriorating in key basins from urban and industrial wastes. At present, 2.4 billion people depend on irrigated agriculture for jobs, food and income (some 55 percent of all wheat and rice output is irrigated). Over the next 30 years, an estimated 80 percent of the additional food supplies required to feed the world will depend on irrigation. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, in January 2012, released a draft National Water Policy for the consideration and opinion of state governments and other stakeholders. The need for a holistic national policy has its genesis in the changing patterns of water use across India – both personal and industrial use. This includes the imperatives of providing both clean drinking water and adequate resources for irrigation; the move to look at renewable sources of energy like hydro power; and natural disaster management and rehabilitation following devastating floods and drought. The policy also seeks to offer economic incentives and penalties to reduce pollution and wastage. For reversing the usual approach of projecting a future demand and bringing about a supply-side response to meet that demand, we must start from the fact that the availability of fresh water in nature is finite, and learn to manage our water needs within that availability. This means a restraint on the growth of 'demand' for water (other than basic needs) which will be difficult and will involve painful adjustments; but this has become inevitable. So, to have a more equitable and inclusive water resources management, the primacy has to shift from large, centralized, capital-intensive 'water resource development' (WRD) projects with big dams and reservoirs and canal systems, to small, decentralized, local, community-led, water-harvesting and watershed-development programmes, with the big projects being regarded as projects of the last resort; and the exploitation of groundwater will have to be severely restrained in the interest of resource-conservation as well as equity. |
| Keywords: | Water Policy, India, Agriculture |
| JEL: | Q0 Q01 Q1 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45230&r=agr |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Strutt, Anna |
| Abstract: | Revision of a paper presented at the IATRC/IAAE Pre-Congress Symposium on Globalization, Macroeconomic Imbalances, and South America as the World’s Food Basket, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, 18 August 2012. |
| Keywords: | Global economy-wide model projections, Asian economic growth and structural change, South-South trade, booming sector economics, food security, International Development, International Relations/Trade, D58, F13, F15, F17, Q17, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatrwp:145369&r=agr |
| By: | Williamson, James M.; Durst, Ron L.; Farrigan, Tracey L. |
| Abstract: | Several proposals calling for fundamental reform of the Federal income tax system have been put forth, including a report by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. The primary elements of reform—eliminating tax preferences, restructuring capital gains and dividend tax rates, lowering rates on individual income, and reducing the number of tax brackets—could have a signifi cant impact on the after-tax income and well-being of both farm businesses and rural households. This report uses published and special tabulation data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service, farm-level data from USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey, and data from the American Housing Survey to examine the current tax situation for farm households and to evaluate the importance of various Federal income tax policies. For farm households, the effect of reform will primarily depend upon changes to existing treatment of investment and business income, including several important business deductions. In contrast, changes to existing individual tax credits, especially refundable tax credits, will likely be of greater signifi cance to nonfarm rural households. |
| Keywords: | farm households, tax reform, income tax, tax rates, Federal tax policy, farm losses, refundable credits, tax deductions, rural households, tax preferences, Agricultural Finance, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:145318&r=agr |
| By: | Zeitsch, John |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare89:144900&r=agr |
| By: | Mariam Camarero (Universidad Jaume I); Juana Castillo Giménez (Universidad de Valencia); Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo (Universidad de Valencia); Cecilio Tamarit (Universidad de Valencia) |
| Abstract: | Eco-efficiency refers to the ability to produce more goods and services with less impact on the environment and less consumption of natural resources. This issue has become a matter of concern that is receiving increasing attention by politicians, scientists and academics. Furthermore, greenhouse gases emitted as a result of production processes have a heavy impact in the environment and also are the foremost responsible of global warming and climate change. This paper assesses convergence in eco-efficiency from greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (EU). Eco-efficiency is assessed at both country and greenhouse-gas-specific levels using Data Envelopment Analysis techniques and directional distance functions, as recently proposed by Picazo-Tadeo et al. (2012). Then, convergence is evaluated using the Phillips and Sul (2007) approach that allows testing for the existence of convergence groups. Although the results point to the existence of different convergence clubs depending on the specific pollutant considered, they signal the existence of, at least, four clear groups of countries. The first two groups are conformed of core EU high-income countries (Benelux, Germany, Italy, Austria, the United Kingdom and Scandinavian countries). A third club is made up of peripheral countries (Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Greece) together with some Eastern countries (Latvia, Slovenia) and the rest of clubs consists of groups containing Eastern European countries. |
| Keywords: | Eco-efficiency; convergence; clubs; greenhouse gases emissions; European Union; directional distance functions; Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | C15 C22 C61 F15 Q56 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1309&r=agr |
| By: | Batterham, Robert L.; MacAulay, T. Gordon |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare90:144908&r=agr |
| By: | David Wheeler, Dan Hammer, and Robin Kraft |
| Abstract: | This paper updates Working Paper 294, “FCPR—Forest Conservation Performance Rating for the Pan-Tropics.” Forest Conservation Performance Rating (fCPR) is a system of color-coded ratings for tropical forest conservation performance that can be implemented for local areas, countries, regions, and the entire pan-tropics. The ratings reward tropical forest conservation in three dimensions: (1) Progress toward elimination of tropical forest clearing by 2050; (2) progress toward achieving more ambitious REDD+ goals; and (3) achieving an immediate reduction in forest clearing. We assign green ratings to areas that meet condition (2); yellow to areas that meet (1) only; dark red to areas that fail both conditions, with forest clearing still increasing; and light red to areas that fail both conditions, but with declining forest clearing. This paper introduces quarterly conservation performance ratings for 56 tropical forest countries, as well as 781 of their states and provinces that contain tropical forests. We also combine the fCPR country ratings to produce ratings for major regions and the entire pan- tropics. Overall, we find that conservation performance has deteriorated significantly since 2005 at the global and regional levels. Some gains were made at the height of the global economic crisis, but they have proven to be temporary. Since 2010, forest clearing has exhibited rapid growth in most of tropical Asia, Latin America and Africa. |
| Keywords: | forests, conservation, satellite imagery |
| JEL: | Q20 Q23 Q27 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:317&r=agr |
| By: | Pradhan, Jadunath; Quilkey, John J. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare91:146111&r=agr |
| By: | Ariane Manuela AMIN (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I); Johanna Choumert (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I) |
| Abstract: | A better understanding of the relationship between economic development and biodiversity loss is of great relevance, given the current rapid extinction of species along with challenges born from the context of economic development in poor countries. The purpose of the current study is to provide a sound analysis, within the framework of an Environmental Kuznets Curve, of the relationship between economic development and pressure on biodiversity. Drawing on the most up-to-date data on threatened species from 48 sub-Saharan African countries, we used Maximum-likelihood and generalized spatial two-stage least-squares estimators to account for spatial-autoregressiveness in the dependent variable, as well as in the explanatory variables and in the disturbances of the models. We find evidence that supports an inverted U-shaped relationship between development and biodiversity imperilment, measured as the percent of threatened bird species. The results also reveal some species-level differences in the biodiversity-development relationship, since the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis doesn't hold for mammals. This analysis contributes to the literature by partially challenging the paradigm of a strictly negative relationship between biodiversity and development in a developing countries context. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity;species imperilment;Spatial econometrics;Cliff-Ord model;spatial Durbin model |
| Date: | 2013–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00799175&r=agr |
| By: | Wegener, Malcolm K. |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare90:145460&r=agr |
| By: | Karanikola, Paraskevi (Democritus University of Thrace); Tampakis, Stilianos (Democritus University of Thrace); Manolas, Evangelos (Democritus University of Thrace); Tsantopoulos, Georgios (Democritus University of Thrace) |
| Abstract: | The forest fires which occurred in the prefecture of Ilia, Greece, in August 2007 resulted in significant losses in forest lands, property and human lives. The citizens behaved as simple spectators of the disaster. Although they could have reacted, they did nothing. The citizens, however, declare that they know what actions they need to take in case of fire. Their information regarding forest fires mainly comes from television and radio, family and friends, newspapers and magazines and education. Indeed, it seems that through interpersonal channels of communication better results are achieved. In confronting forest fires, knowledge alone is not sufficient. In order to effectively confront forest fires, the local population also needs to be trained and organized in a voluntary system of confrontation. |
| Keywords: | Forest Fire; Ilia 2007; View of Citizen; Citizen Participation; Greece |
| JEL: | Q28 Z13 |
| Date: | 2013–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:cieodp:2013_009&r=agr |
| By: | Suzuki, Aya; Vu, Hoang Nam |
| Abstract: | While the rising exports have been the source of growth for many developing countries in recent years, the rate of commodities rejected at the ports of developed countries has also been high. Yet why it has remained so despite the costs involved is mostly unknown. This paper takes a case of the frozen seafood export industry in Vietnam and examines the current status of port rejection, roles played by various stakeholders along the value chains, and the constraints faced by the Vietnamese producers and exporters. It concludes with some policy implications, including strengthening the enforcement mechanism of standards compliance particularly at the upstream of the value chain and providing public testing labs for small-scale producers. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, Quality control, Marine products, Exports, Port rejection, Quality standards |
| JEL: | L15 O19 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper395&r=agr |
| By: | Taylor, Richard D.; Bangsund, Dean A.; Hodur, Nancy M. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:145739&r=agr |
| By: | Xavier, António (University of Algarve); Martins, Maria de Belém (University of Algarve) |
| Abstract: | The following paper presents a detailed insight about the situation of the forest management in the diversity within the Mediterranean Forests, and their response to different problems, in order to allow the development and application of a forest management model. Therefore, a survey was carried out in several partners’ areas of the PROTECT project (An Integrated European Model to Protect MEDiterranean Forests from Fire). The results provided a comparative analysis between different areas located in the Mediterranean Basin, and the analysis shows that there are several management systems that may be improved with experiences from other countries. Also, there are some common problems which need solutions in the different areas, namely forest fires. This general information also provided a good background for carefully applying and adapting different forests’ management models, both ecological and economically sustainable, in the PROTECT partners, where the problems and agents to be considered are different, giving conditions for the adaptation and development of a common model. |
| Keywords: | Mediterranean Forests; Forest Management; Fire Prevention; Forest Sustainability |
| JEL: | Q28 Z13 |
| Date: | 2013–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:cieodp:2013_011&r=agr |
| By: | William Seitz |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I use an event study approach to investigate the claim that conflict minerals legislation in the United States (US) led to a ban on some mining exports from the Democratic Republc of the Congo (DRC), and that the passage of US regulation caused a ban on both production and trade by regulators in the DRC several months later. I als oconsider the assertion that conflict minerals legislation imposed severe costs for companies that report to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US. I find that returns for some companis traded on US stock exchanges were sensitive to changes in production in the DRC after the proposed legislation became law in the US. This either suggests that some financial market participants did not expect an immediate full embargo on newly-regulated Congolese mining and trading activities, or that market participants did not expect trade to be halted indefinitely. Reactions to a DRC-imposed ban on production were statistically significant; indicating that addtional reductions in trade were not fully anticipated by financial market participants after regulations became law in the US. I also find that among metal and gold mining companies traded on US exchanges, returns were abnormally high when conflict mineral legislation became more probable. Electronic communication manufacturing firms, which as a group were a target for many supporters of conflict mineral regulations, experienced no systematically abnormal returns corresponding to important dates in the US legislative process that I consider, but experienced abnormally positive returns coinciding with the ban on mining in the eastern DRC. |
| Keywords: | Event Study, Mining, Conflict Minerals, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Trade Regulations, Natural Resources |
| JEL: | F51 Q34 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:102&r=agr |
| By: | Gyles, Amanda; Hardaker, J. Brian; Kami, Viliami; Speijer, Paul R. |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare89:144731&r=agr |
| By: | Aurora García-Gallego (LEE & Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Nikolaos Georgantzis (GLOBE & Economics Department, University of Granada, Spain; LEE & Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón-Spain); Gianandrea Staffiero (Center for Research in Economics and Health (CRES)); Tarek Jaber-López (LEE & Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of imposing a charge for the individual appropriation of common resources. In our design, withdrawing the maximum amount is the dominant strategy for every player, but the resulting equilibrium is socially inefficient. We find that the presence of a price, small enough to leave intact the trade-off between individual incentives and collective welfare, is not effective in reducing appropriation among players who have previously played without it. On one hand, the upward trend in the average extraction of common funds continues after the introduction of a price. On the other hand, the presence of a price does decrease withdrawals, in comparison with a baseline treatment without any charge, as long as it is imposed from the outset. Our design sheds light on the conditions for the effectiveness of co-payment in curbing the over-consumption of public resources, most notably in the realm of healthcare. |
| Keywords: | Common-Pool Resources, Co-Payment, Public Goods, Consumer Choice |
| JEL: | C91 C92 H41 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2013/03&r=agr |