|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2015‒04‒11
forty-four papers chosen by |
| By: | Ferguson, Shon M.; Olfert, M. Rose |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of the removal of a railway transportation subsidy on the adoption of technology for Western Canadian farms, using a unique combination of Census and freight rate data. We exploit the large regional variation in these one-time freight rate increases in order to identify causal effects of increased competitive pressure. Using a difference-in differences methodology we find that higher freights rates – and hence lower farm gate prices – induced farmers to adopt new, more efficient production technology. We also find that farmers experiencing the greatest transportation cost increases also increased fertilizer usage and made significant land use changes. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Trade Liberalization, Export Subsidy, Technical Change, Farm Support, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, F14, O13, Q16, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:riiewp:164658&r=agr |
| By: | World Bank Group |
| Keywords: | Agriculture - Agribusiness Agriculture - Agricultural Knowledge & Information Systems Agriculture - Agricultural Sector Economics Agriculture - Fertilizers Communities and Human Settlements - Land Administration Energy - Rural Energy Rural Development - Agribusiness & Markets |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21501&r=agr |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems Agriculture - Agricultural Research Agriculture - Climate Change and Agriculture Rural Development Knowledge and Information Systems Science and Technology Development - Science of Climate Change Rural Development Science and Technology Development - Climate and Meteorology |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21676&r=agr |
| By: | Lei, Lei |
| Abstract: | To enhance Chinese agricultural production, improve food quality, build consumer trust, and encourage the export of agricultural products, the Chinese government designed the Chinese version of Good Agricultural Practice (ChinaGAP) based on the main principles of the GlobalGAP combining the current Chinese agricultural production situation. This paper studies the characteristics of the ChinaGAP and focusing on the diffusion of the standard using qualitative analysis. Relevant policy recommendations are given based on the Chinese agricultural production status. Previous studies mainly focused on the role of the government. However this paper makes specific suggestions to particular stakeholders in the standard making and diffusion process. |
| Keywords: | China, Agriculture, Agricultural products, Agricultural policy, Sustainable development, ChinaGAP, Government supports, Policy diffusion, Sustainable agricultural production |
| JEL: | O38 Q01 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper501&r=agr |
| By: | Nabeshima, Kaoru; Michida, Etsuyo; Vu, Hoang Nam; Suzuki, Aya |
| Abstract: | Global G.A.P. is a one of the most influential private standards in the area of food safety and sustainability. With increasing impacts of Global G.A.P., many Asian countries have introduced the country versions of GAPs; China GAP, Japan GAP, Viet GAP, Thai GAP and ASEAN GAP. Each has been influenced by Global G.A.P. but ways of implementation, implementation bodies as well as focus differ from each other. This paper examines the development and motivation behind how the Asian GAPs have been introduced both from current situation and from historical perspectives. Then we compare current situation of different Asian GAPs. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, Japan, Agricultural policy, Agricultural products, Agriculture, Food, Good agriculture practice, Quality standards |
| JEL: | L15 Q17 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper507&r=agr |
| By: | Anthony Harris |
| Abstract: | Government intervention in land transactions is common in developing countries, especially where land markets function poorly. This is the case in Ethiopia, where expropriation of farmland from small-scale farmers has been used by all levels of government as a tool for providing new land for industrial investors, commercial agriculture and expanding cities. This paper evaluates the impact of such a policy on a group of small-scale farmers whose land has been taken to make room for a large factory. Baseline data was collected in the year before expropriation and a follow up survey was conducted 8 months after households lost their land and received payment. On average, household lose 70% of their land and receive compensation payments that are about 5 times the value of annual consumption expenditure. I find that households in the treatment group increase their consumption, start more businesses and participate more in non-farm activities than households that do not lose farmland. These households also reallocate their livestock portfolios away from oxen and towards small ruminants and cattle, reflecting a shift away from growing crops. However, all of these changes are relatively minor compared to the increase in savings: with the exception of a few households, most of the compensation payment is left in the bank. |
| Keywords: | Land expropriation, Ethiopia, agricultural investment |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2015-04&r=agr |
| By: | Lyubov Andrushko (Politechnika Swietokrzyska) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents the synthetic results of research on the evaluation of efficiency of selected food industries in Poland, in the years 2000-2013. A dynamic approach was applied to the studies which were based on the analysis of prices of raw materials, meat products and product assortments of meat processing companies. The mechanism of prices impact on the efficiency of management was examined using the term ”food chain” in the meat industry, which comprises: agriculture- food processing-consumers. The reasoning of the influence of micro and macro factors on the economic efficiency in the pursuit of sustainable development was applied in the study as well as theoretical knowledge. This was the knowledge on the price structure, the impact of internal transformations (changes) of enterprises on the level of prices of goods offered by them in the meat industry studied. |
| Keywords: | food chain, efficiency evaluation, prices dynamics, meat products consumption pattern |
| JEL: | D4 L1 O13 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2015:no26&r=agr |
| By: | Arimoto, Yutaka; Kurosu, Satomi |
| Abstract: | In agricultural societies, adjusting land and labor according to changes of labor endowment that result from family life cycle events is premised on making full use of resources for each farming household and for the economy as a whole. This paper examines how and how well households in pre-modern Japan reallocated land and labor, using a population register covering 150 years from 1720–1870 for a village in the Tohoku region. We find that households reacted to equalize their production factors; land-scarce households tended to acquire or rent-in land and out-migrate their kin members, while land-abundant households tended to release or rent-out land, in-migrate kin members, or employ non-kin members. Estimates suggest that more than 80% of the surplus or deficit area of land was resolved if the household rented or "sold" land. We discuss a potential underlying mechanism; namely, that the village's collective responsibility for tax payment (murauke) motivated both individual households and the village as a whole to reallocate land and labor for the efficient use of resources. |
| Keywords: | Japan, Land tenure, Labor, Household, Rural societies, Economic history, Farmers, Land reallocation, Land-to-labor ratio, Factor equalization, Land market, Pre-modern Japan |
| JEL: | D13 N55 O13 Q12 R20 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper519&r=agr |
| By: | Twine, Edgar; Katjiuongua, Hikuepi |
| Abstract: | The study uses a partial equilibrium model to determine the benefits that would accrue to smallholder dairy producers and consumers from improved efficiency of Tanzania’s informal dairy value chain. Two sources of technical efficiency are analyzed, namely, cost efficiency and scale efficiency. Using aggregate time series data to simulate the model, the study finds that improvement in scale efficiency offers relatively large benefits to both producers and consumers. However, benefits from improvement in cost efficiency are relatively small and disproportionate. It is concluded that improving technical efficiency in general would lead to significant benefits for producers and consumers. |
| Keywords: | Tanzania’s informal dairy value chain, smallholder farmers, partial equilibrium model, Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q11, Q13, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200329&r=agr |
| By: | Gianni Guastella (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Stefano Pareglio (Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica "Niccolò Tartaglia") |
| Abstract: | Sustainability of agriculture is challenged by increasing sprawl in urban agglomerations. Under increasing agglomeration economies in large and even medium sized cities, more and more soil is being subtracted to agriculture, depriving agricultural activities of its main production factor. The extent to which the expanding urbanization threatens agricultural development depends on the urban spatial structure, however. In this work it is empirically investigated how the relationship between soil use and soil consumption is shaped by the compactness of a city. For the population of LAU1 main cities in an Italian region (Lombardy), compactness is measured as the density gradient and estimated using Central Business District models. It is found that more compact cities exhibit relatively lower-than-expected soil consumption in the period 1999-2007. Results suggest that agglomeration economies are not enemies of agricultural activities per se. Nonetheless, urbanization needs to be accompanied by urban fringe containment. |
| Keywords: | Land Use; Land Take, Central Business District, Spatial Size of Cities, Spatial Econometrics |
| JEL: | Q15 R14 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1400&r=agr |
| By: | Adong, Annet |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200412&r=agr |
| By: | Obike, Kingsley Chukwuemeka; Osundu, Charles Kelechi |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT The study analyzed the determinants of cassava farmers’ accessibility to microfinance services in Abia state, Nigeria. Specifically the study assessed the economic variables influencing cassava farmers’ accessibility to microfinance, the qualitative perception of farmers’ access and the empirical determinants of cassava farmers’ accessibility to microfinance. Multistage random sampling technique was used in selecting respondents who were beneficiaries of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) spread across the 3 agricultural zones in the state; from which primary data were collected using questionnaires. A total of 120 cassava farmers who are beneficiaries of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) were used in the study. Method of data analysis used were means, frequencies, percentages, likert scale analysis and the logit multiple regression model. The result revealed that gender, age, education, household size, farm size and farming experience are the socio-economic variables influencing cassava farmers’ access to MFIs. The varied level of accessibility enjoyed by cassava farmers were in terms of total amount of credit received, amount of credit used for cassava farming and distance to MFIs location. While the important significant determinants of accessibility are gender, age, education, farming experience, amount of loan repaid and ownership of house. It is therefore recommended that government policies can capitalize on the socio-economic variables in this study as veritable tools to encouraging accessibility to MFIs. |
| Keywords: | KEYWORDS: Accessibility; Microfinance Institutions (MFIs); Cassava farmers; services |
| JEL: | Q14 |
| Date: | 2013–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63326&r=agr |
| By: | Patil, Kiran Kumar R; Chandrakanth, MG; Bhat, Mahadev G; Manjunatha, AV |
| Abstract: | More than 65 percent of the geographical area in India comprise the hard rock areas where the recharge of groundwater is meagre (5 to 10% of the rainfall), while the extraction for irrigation has exceeded the recharge in several areas, leading to secular overdraft. Neither the farmers nor the policy makers have paid adequate attention towards sustainable path of extraction. This article is a modest attempt to demonstrate the sustainable path using Pontryagin‟s optimal control application in order to impress upon the policy makers the need for groundwater regulation. This study is based on primary data obtained from farmers with groundwater irrigation in hard rock areas of Deccan Plateau. Results indicated that discounted net benefit realized per well at steady state equilibrium on borewell recharge farms was Rs. 97201 ($1620) reached in 25 years; on drip irrigation farms cultivating broad spaced crops was Rs. 163347 ($2722) reached in 17 years. Thus, farmers who recharge borewell on the farm realize the service of borewell for larger number of years realizing sustainable incomes than their counterparts using drip irrigation, without performing on farm recharge. However the economic performance of both types of farms are substantially superior over farms adopting myopic extraction. The study disproved the operation of Jevons paradox. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200417&r=agr |
| By: | Pambo, Kennedy Otieno; Otieno, David Jakinda; Okello, Julius Juma |
| Abstract: | Food fortification presents practical and cost-effective alternative to the fight against micronutrient malnutrition. Vitamin A deficiency and lack of iron bears the greatest economic importance in Kenya. Consequently, the National Food Security and Nutrition Policy in Kenya focus on pilot efforts aimed at fortifying processed foods with important micronutrients such as vitamin A. However, consumers remains the most important link in the food fortification equation through their purchase decisions. This study therefore, assessed the consumers’ willingness-to-pay for fortified sugar using choice experiment approach, on a sample of 162 sugar consumers drawn from Western Kenya. The results revealed that consumers are willing to pay positive premiums for fortified sugar attributes, except the attribute involving a colour change from white/brown to yellowish. These findings offer useful insights for the development of preference-based sugar fortification programmes in Kenya. Moreover, the results would guide formulation of policies against micronutrient malnutrition in Kenya and other developing countries, with similar conditions. |
| Keywords: | Vitamin A deficiency, fortification, sugar, choice experiment., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200414&r=agr |
| By: | Donald F. Larson; Dilshod Khidirov; Irina Ramniceanu |
| Keywords: | Crops and Crop Management Systems Agriculture and Farming Systems Economic Theory and Research Rural Development Knowledge and Information Systems Environmental Economics and Policies Environment Agriculture Rural Development Macroeconomics and Economic Growth |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21495&r=agr |
| By: | Obike, Kingsley Chukwuemeka; Osundu, Charles Kelechi |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT This study investigated the comparative determinants of productivity among cassava farmer-beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of Microfinance Institution (MFIs) in Abia state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study identified and examined factors influencing productivity of cassava farmers who are beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Multistage random sampling technique was implored in sorting out respondents who are beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of MFIs spread across the 3 agricultural zones in the state. This provided the sample frame from which primary data were collected with the use of a pre tested and structured questionnaire. A total of 240 cassava farmers who are both beneficiaries (120) and non-beneficiaries (120) of MFIs were used in this study. The method of data analysis used is the ordinary least square (OLS) regression technique with the choice of Cobb Douglas as the lead equation most suited to explain productivity analysis and chow test for test of difference between means of factors. The result revealed that gender, age, household size and farming experience were directly related to productivity at varied 1.0%, 5.0% and 10.0% levels of significance for beneficiaries of MFIs while non-beneficiaries coefficient for gender, age, education, farm size, household size and farming experience were statistically significant at varied critical probability levels. The chow test however reveals that the calculated F-value given as 5.784 is significant at 1.0% levels, hence proved that MFIs beneficiaries are more productive than non-beneficiaries. It is therefore necessary for government policies to consider encouraging male cassava farmers, with good farming experience and moderate household members to ensure and maintain productivity. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Determinants; Productivity; Beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries; Microfinance Institution (MFIs); Cassava |
| JEL: | Q14 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63325&r=agr |
| By: | Ahsanuzzaman, Ahsanuzzaman |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200406&r=agr |
| By: | McCullough,Ellen B. |
| Abstract: | Drawing on a new set of nationally representative, internationally comparable household surveys, this paper provides an overview of key features of structural transformation?labor allocation and labor productivity?in four African economies. New, micro-based measures of sector labor allocation and cross-sector productivity differentials describe the incentives households face when allocating their labor. These measures are similar to national accounts-based measures that are typically used to characterize structural changes in African economies. However, because agricultural workers supply far fewer hours of labor per year than do workers in other sectors, productivity gaps disappear almost entirely when expressed on a per-hour basis. What look like large productivity gaps in national accounts data could really be employment gaps, calling into question the prospective gains that laborers can achieve through structural transformation. These employment gaps, along with the strong linkages observed between rural non-farm activities and primary agricultural production, highlight agriculture's continued relevance to structural change in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Labor Markets,Work&Working Conditions,Labor Policies,Banks&Banking Reform |
| Date: | 2015–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7234&r=agr |
| By: | Lawal, J.O.; Omonona, B.T.; Oluwatayo, I.B.; Oyekale, A.S.; Salimonou, K.K. |
| Abstract: | This study determined the correlates of welfare using panel data collected in heavy and light cocoa seasons through multistage sampling techniques from 366 cocoa farming households. Data collected were subjected to descriptive and Ordered Probit model of analysis using STATA. Welfare categories were based on the relative poverty line constructed from the mean per capita household expenditure for each season. Results revealed that male-headed households were more among the cocoa farming households, with mean age of 54 ±12.64 years, household size of 7 ±3.19 persons, farming experience 28 ± 14.41 years and mean age of the cocoa trees were 30 ± 19.21 years and this shows that the farmers and their cocoa trees are old, there by affecting the productivity and the welfare of the farmers. The ordered probit result corroborates this results because age of household head (p<0.5), gender of household head (p<0.1), age of cocoa (p<0.1), poor access to credit (p<0.1), poor collateral status (p<0.01) and unfavourable government policy (p<0.5) on cocoa production negatively affects welfare of Cocoa Farming Households while literacy (p<0.1), type of land tenure system used on cocoa farm (p<0.01), price stability of produce (p<0.01) and good harvest from plantations (p<0.01) enhanced cocoa farming households’ welfare. |
| Keywords: | Welfare transition, seasons, ordered Probit, cocoa farming households, Nigeria, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200416&r=agr |
| By: | Brunt, Liam |
| Abstract: | We estimate a time series model of weather shocks on English wheat yields for the early nineteenth century and use it to predict weather effects on yield levels from 1697 to 1871. This reveals that yields in the 1690s were depressed by unusually poor weather; and those in the late 1850s were inflated by unusually good weather. This has led researchers to overestimate the underlying growth of yields over the period by perhaps 50 per cent. Correcting for this effect would largely reconcile the conflicting primal and dual estimates of productivity growth over the period. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; productivity; weather |
| JEL: | N5 O3 Q1 Q2 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10530&r=agr |
| By: | Reshmi Kumari; Yuko Nakano |
| Abstract: | Does land lease tenure insecurity cause decreased productivity and investment in the sugar industry? To answer this question, the present study examined the impact of weak formal tenure lease arrangements on tenants’ investment and the productivity of sugarcane in Ba province, Fiji. After controlling for potential endogeneity in the choice of lease tenure using instrumental variables (IV), it was shown that tenants under insecure lease tenure (expiring in 0–5 years) achieve significantly lower yields of sugarcane, by 9–11 tonnes per hectare, and plant smaller areas of new sugarcane, by 0.19–0.25 hectares on average, than do tenants under secure lease tenure. Insecure lease tenure also negatively affects chemical fertilizer use, although this impact is not statistically significant. An intervention to improve tenure security would likely enhance the production efficiency of and investment in the Fijian sugarcane industry. |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tsu:tewpjp:2015-001&r=agr |
| By: | Arimoto, Yutaka; Kono, Hisaki; Ralandison, Tsilavo; Sakurai, Takeshi; Takahashi, Kazushi |
| Abstract: | Many studies find that agricultural markets in developing countries are poorly integrated spatially. Traders' regional arbitrage plays a key role in integrating markets across space. We investigate the performance of regional arbitrage and the associated obstacles for rice traders in Antananarivo, Madagascar. On the basis of a trader-level biweekly survey spanning 2012–2013, we find that traders are not fully exploiting the regional arbitrage opportunities: most of them fail to purchase from the cheapest district and are paying higher prices than those in the cheapest district. One apparent obstacle is obtaining price information from many different regions. To reduce search costs, we provided regional price information via SMS to randomly selected traders, but found that this had a null-effect on improving arbitrage performance. Traders tend to concentrate on trading with a few fixed districts, even if they are informed about cheaper prices in other new districts, because they worry about quality uncertainty and the trustworthiness of new partners. These findings suggest that not only transmission of price information but also issues related to produce quality and matching prevent the performance of arbitrage and market integration. |
| Keywords: | Madagascar, Rice, Market, Retail trade, Primary commodities, Regional arbitrage, Market integration, Information friction, Price information, Search |
| JEL: | L81 O13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper505&r=agr |
| By: | Venkatesh, P.; Sangeetha, V.; Pal, Suresh |
| Keywords: | Plant variety protection, protection behaviour, hedonic pricing, impact of PVP, India, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, Land Economics/Use, O31, O34, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200413&r=agr |
| By: | Hiro Lee (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University); Ken Itakura (Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya City University) |
| Abstract: | Asia-Pacific countries are currently negotiating two mega-regional free trade agreements (FTAs), namely Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, by using a dynamic applied general equilibrium model with several plausible sequences of region-wide FTAs, we offer results that are highly policy relevant. Second, we examine additional effects of mega-regional FTAs, including the positive impact on productivity, reductions in compliance costs associated with rules of origin, and FTA-induced agricultural policy reforms in Japan. When the mega-regional FTAs are assumed to exerts a positive effect on productivity, the magnitudes of welfare gains for all the member countries increase significantly. When implementations of these FTAs are assumed to lead to reductions in compliance costs associated with rules of origin, it would also boost welfare gains of the member economies. Finally, when Japan's agricultural policy reforms would result in an increase in productivity of its agricultural sectors, the extent of output contraction of agricultural and processed food sectors in the country would be reduced significantly except for dairy products. |
| Keywords: | TPP, RCEP, productivity growth, rules of origin, agricultural policy reform |
| JEL: | F15 F17 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:15e001&r=agr |
| By: | Alanoud Al-Maadid; Guglielma Maria Caporale; Fabio Spagnolo; Nicola Spagnolo |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates a bivariate VAR-GARCH(1,1) model to examine linkages between food and energy prices. The adopted framework is suitable to analyse both mean and volatility spillovers, and also allows for possible parameter shifts resulting from four recent events, namely: 1) the 2006 food crisis, 2) the Brent oil bubble, 3) the introduction of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) policy, and 4) the 2008 global financial crisis. The empirical findings suggest that there are significant linkages between food and both oil and ethanol prices. Further, the four events considered had mixed effects, the 2006 food crisis and 2008 financial crisis leading to the most significant shifts in the (volatility) spillovers between the price series considered. |
| Keywords: | Energy and food prices, VAR-GARCH BEKK model, Mean and volatility spillovers |
| JEL: | C32 F36 G15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1466&r=agr |
| By: | International Finance Corporation |
| Keywords: | Livestock and Animal Husbandry Environment - Biodiversity Environment - Wildlife Resources Crops and Crop Management Systems Health Monitoring and Evaluation Agriculture Health, Nutrition and Population |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21505&r=agr |
| By: | A. Stefano Caria; Marcel Fafchamps |
| Abstract: | We run an artefactual field experiment in rural India which tests whether farmers can create efficient networks in a repeated link formation game, and whether group categorization results in homophily and loss of network efficiency. We find that the efficiency of the networks formed in the experiment is significantly lower than the efficiency which could be achieved under selfish, rational play. Many individual decisions are consistent with selfish rationality and with a concern for overall welfare, but the tendency to link with the ‘most popular’ farmer in the network causes large efficiency losses. When information about group membership is disclosed, social networks become more homophilous, but not significantly less efficient. Networks play an important role in the diffusion of innovations in developing countries. If they are inefficiently structured, there is scope for development policies that support diffusion. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2015-07&r=agr |
| By: | Tommy E. Murphy; Mart’n A. Rossi |
| Abstract: | We document the connection between land reform and violent crime in Mexico using the counter-reform (the transformation of ejido land into private property) carried out in 1992. Using data at a municipality level, we exploit the fact that municipalities have different exposure to the reform. We report a significant impact of the land reform on the number of murders: In those municipalities with a higher proportion of social land, and therefore more exposure to the land reform, the number of murders decreased more than in those municipalities less exposed to the land reform. Our results suggest that clearly specified and consistently enforced land rights reduce gains from violence, therefore leading to lower levels of violence as measured by the number of murders. |
| Keywords: | Agrarian reform; murders; property rights |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:072&r=agr |
| By: | Philippe Delacote; Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson; Sébastien Roussel |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of several avoided deforestation policies within a patchy forested landscape. Central is the idea that deforestation choices in one area influence deforestation decisions in nearby patches. We explore the interplay between forest landscapes comprising heterogeneous patches, localised spatial displacement, and avoided deforestation policies. Avoided deforestation policies at a landscape level are respectively: two Payment for Environmental Services (PES) policies, one focused on deforestation hotspots, the second being equally available to all agents; a conservation area; and, an agglomeration bonus. We demonstrate how the "best" policy, in terms of reduced leakage, depends on landscape heterogeneity. Agglomeration bonuses are shown to be more effective where there is less landscape heterogeneity, whilst conservation areas are most effective where there is more spatial heterogeneity. |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:15-06&r=agr |
| By: | Ozcan Saritas (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Liliana N. Proskuryakova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); E. Kyzyngasheva (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Water resources are crucial for the continuity of life. Humans and living species need fresh water for drinking and sanitation, while most, if not all, industries need water for some part of production processes and products themselves. Access to fresh water is a grand challenge at the global level, mainly due to increasing water consumption, low rate of replenishment of resources as well as external factors, like climate change, that significantly reduce amount of water available. The solution to the existing water problems require a systemic approaches for sustainable use of water resources, while advancing water infrastructure and providing circular use of water. Research presented in this paper, focuses on the use of water resources in Russia with a long term perspective developed through a Foresight study. Russia is one of the countries, which is relatively better positioned compared to a number of other countries in the world regarding the availability of water resources. However, there are still considerable issues regarding the protection and use of water resources, purification processes, water networks, consumption patterns, discharge, treatment and re-use. The present study aims to develop strategies and for the use of water resources with a long term time perspective. The first step involved a scanning exercise, to be followed by future scenarios and strategy proposals for action. Presenting the results of the scanning phase, the paper begins with the review of the key issues and challenges concerning water resources. Particular attention is paid to the state-of-the-art in the three domains identified in the scope of research: (i) sustainability of water systems, (ii) water use by households and industry, and (iii) new water products and services. Furthermore, trends, weak signals and wild cards identified in the course of the study, as well as their implications on water resources in Russia are discussed. The paper concludes with a brief description of the next phases of the study and follow-up activities planned in the project |
| Keywords: | water resources, sustainable water systems, water use, water goods and services, trend scanning, weak signals, wild cards |
| JEL: | H4 H5 H87 I30 M11 R20 R52 Q01 Q02 Q15 Q18 Q22 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q53 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:35sti2015&r=agr |
| By: | Gebrezgabher, Solomie A.; Amewu, Sena; Amoah, Philip |
| Abstract: | The reuse of treated wastewater for aquaculture has been practiced in several countries and has a potential to create a viable fish farming business in low income countries. However, wastewater aquaculture practices which satisfy health and hygiene guidelines and standards will not be viable if consumers are unwilling to purchase fish reared in treated wastewater. In this study we investigate consumers’ preference and willingness to pay for fish farmed in treated wastewater in Ghana. A consumer survey was conducted in Kumasi. We utilize a dichotomous-choice contingent valuation methodology to estimate willingness to pay for fresh Tilapia and smoked Catfish farmed in treated wastewater and analyze factors that affect consumer choice. Consumers in the survey ranked price, size and quality of fish measured by taste and freshness as the most important product attributes influencing their decision prior to purchasing fish. Source of fish is among the least important product attributes influencing consumers’ decision. Results indicate that surveyed consumers generally accept fish reared in treated wastewater if lower prices are offered. Socioeconomic factors such as household income, education and family size significantly determine consumers’ willingness to pay. Furthermore, results indicate that households with children are more likely to pay for smoked Catfish compared to fresh Tilapia indicating that postharvest processing of fish might be perceived as safer and thus increases consumers’ willingness to pay for smoked Catfish. The results of this study provide better understanding of fish consumers’ buying behavior and their perceptions of and attitude towards fish reared in treated wastewater. Moreover, results can contribute to identifying key product attributes that need to be targeted for improvement if sales of fish farmed in treated wastewater is to be achieved. |
| Keywords: | Wastewater aquaculture, farmed fish, dichotomous choice, willingness to pay, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:200415&r=agr |
| By: | Ralandison, Tsilavo; Arimoto, Yutaka; Kono, Hisaki; Sakurai, Takeshi; Takahashi, Kazushi |
| Abstract: | Although spatial disintegration of rice markets in Madagascar has been well documented, little is known about actual rice flows across regions. Using weekly collected unique data from rice markets in 22 regional capital cities for one year, this study explores the physical distribution of rice in Madagascar and reveals that rice flows from sufficient regions to deficit regions, along with geographical proximity, have positive effects on rice flow. In contrast, season factors, such as harvest/non-harvest periods and weather conditions have a negligible effect on rice flow. These findings suggest that rice flows generally follow a rational pattern despite the fact that market indicators indicate that rice trade across regions is underdeveloped. |
| Keywords: | Madagascar, Rice, Primary commodities, Market, Commodity flow, Origin, Destination |
| JEL: | O13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper503&r=agr |
| By: | Sakurai, Takeshi; Ralandison, Tsilavo; Takahashi, Kazushi; Arimoto, Yutaka; Kono, Hisaki |
| Abstract: | This paper examines if consumers pay a premium for unobservable quality in the absence of quality standards and/or quality grading systems and, if so, how they assess that unobservable quality, using a rice retail market in Madagascar as an example. In Madagascar, the lack of quality standards and/or grading systems for rice makes is considered to be one of the causes of the rice market's spatial disintegration. Thus, quality standards and grading systems will be necessary to increase the market's efficiency. We hypothesize that consumers and retailers use product origin and rice name as observable indictors of unobservable quality and test the hypothesis using hedonic price regressions. We find that the interaction terms of product origin and rice name significantly affect the price after controlling for both observable quality and spatial and temporal price variation, but that the contribution of product origin and rice name to rice price variation is smaller than spatial and temporal factors. We thus conclude that consumers pay a premium for unobservable quality throughout Madagascar. This finding implies that quality standards and/or grading systems will work in the Malagasy market and that improving market infrastructure such as roads and storage will make them even more effective. |
| Keywords: | Madagascar, Rice, Market, Retail trade, Quality control |
| JEL: | O13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper504&r=agr |
| By: | Matthew Collin; Justin Sandefur; Andrew Zeitlin |
| Abstract: | When the Tanzanian government formalized over 200,000 informal land claims by granting leasehold titles to residents of unplanned settlements in Dar es Salaam in 2004, a few neighborhoods in the initial plan were excluded due to missing satellite photos. We examine the impact of this low-cost, large-scale titling intervention a decade later in a regression discontinuity design using new survey data collected on either side of the arbitrary boundary created by the missing photos. We find significant, positive effects on housing investment, and indicative but not statistically robust increases in tenure security and reductions in land sales. There is no evidence that titles improved access to credit markets. |
| Keywords: | land titling, formalization, natural experiment, Tanzania |
| JEL: | J16 K11 O12 O18 Q15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2015-09&r=agr |
| By: | Araar,Abdelkrim; Choueiri,Nada; Verme,Paolo |
| Abstract: | Shortly before the 2011 Libyan revolution, consumers'subsidies were rapidly increased by the regime in an effort to reduce social discontent. In the aftermath of the revolution, these subsidies became important for people's subsistence, but also a very heavy burden for the state budget. Since then, the Libyan government has been confronted with the necessity of reforming subsidies in a politically and socially complex environment. This paper uses household survey data to provide a distributional analysis of food and energy subsidies and simulate the impact of subsidy reforms on household wellbeing, poverty, and the government's budget. Despite the focus on direct effects only, the results indicate that subsidy reforms would have a major impact on household welfare and government revenues. The elimination of food subsidies would reduce household expenditure by about 10 percent and double the poverty rate while saving the equivalent of about 2 percent of the government budget. The elimination of energy subsidies would have a similar effect on household welfare, but a larger effect on poverty while government savings would be almost 4 percent of the budget. The size of these effects, the weakness of market institutions, and the current political instability make subsidy reforms extremely complex in Libya. It is also clear that subsidy reforms will call for some form of compensation for the poor, a gradual rather than a big bang approach, and a product-by-product sequence of reforms rather than an all-inclusive reform. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Energy Production and Transportation,Taxation&Subsidies,Food&Beverage Industry |
| Date: | 2015–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7225&r=agr |
| By: | Commander,Simon John; Nikoloski,Zlatko Slobodan; Vagliasindi,Maria |
| Abstract: | It is widely accepted that the costs of underpricing energy are large, whether in advanced or developing countries. This paper explores how large these costs can be by focussing on the size of the external effects that energy subsidies in particular generate in two important sectors?transport and agriculture?in two countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the Arab Republic of Egypt (transport) and the Republic of Yemen (agriculture). The focus is mainly on the costs associated with congestion and pollution, as well as the impact of underpriced energy for depletion of scarce water resources, including through crop selection. Quantifying the size of external effects in developing countries has received relatively little analytical attention, although there is a significant body of literature for developed countries. By building on earlier research, as well as employing the United Nations ForFITS model, the paper provides indicative estimates of the external costs of energy subsidies, as manifested in congestion and pollution. The estimates using simulations indicate that these costs could be materially reduced by elimination or reduction of energy subsidies. The paper also describes the impact of energy subsidies on water consumption in a region where water resources are particularly limited. The findings provide further evidence of the adverse and significant consequences of subsidizing energy. |
| Keywords: | Transport and Environment,Energy Production and Transportation,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Climate Change Economics,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases |
| Date: | 2015–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7227&r=agr |
| By: | William Larson (Bureau of Economic Analysis) |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bea:wpaper:0120&r=agr |
| By: | Ladislav Kristoufek; Karel Janda; David Zilberman |
| Abstract: | We use the wavelet coherence methodology to investigate relations between prices of ethanol and its feedstocks. Our continuous wavelet framework allows for discovering price connections and their evolution in both time and frequency domain in the most important ethanol markets – Brazil and the USA. For both of these markets we show that the long-run relationship between prices of ethanol and corn (in USA) or sugar (in Brazil) is positive, strong and stable in time. Importantly, we show that the prices of feedstock lead the prices of ethanol and not the other way around. The price lead of feedstock is documented for both short and long run horizons. Our qualitative results hold true even when the influence of crude oil prices is accounted for by utilizing partial wavelet coherence approach. |
| Keywords: | ethanol, corn, sugar, oil, wavelet coherence |
| JEL: | C22 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2015-11&r=agr |
| By: | Jason Barr; Fred Smith; Sayali Kulkarni |
| Abstract: | Using vacant land sales, we construct a land value index for Manhattan from 1950 to 2013. We find three major cycles (1950 to 1977, 1977 to 1993, and 1993 to 2007), with land values reaching their nadir in 1977, two years after the city’s fiscal crises. Overall, we find the average annual real growth rate to be 5.1%. Since 1993, land prices have risen quite dramatically, and much faster than population or employment growth, at an average annual rate of 15.8%, suggesting that barriers to entry in real estate development are causing prices to rise faster than other measures of local well-being. Further, we estimate the entire amount of developable land on Manhattan to be worth approximately $825 billion. This would suggest an average annual return of 6.3% since the island was first inhabited by Dutch settlers in 1626. |
| Keywords: | Land Values, Manhattan, Price Index |
| JEL: | R1 N9 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:run:wpaper:2015-002&r=agr |
| By: | Böhringer, Christoph (Department of Economics, University of Oldenburg, Germany); Bye, Brita (Statistics Norway, Research Department); Fæhn, Taran (Statistics Norway, Research Department); Rosendahl, Knut Einar (School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Climate effects of unilateral carbon policies are undermined by carbon leakage. To counteract leakage and increase global cost-effectiveness carbon tariffs can be imposed on the emissions embodied in imports from non-regulating regions. We present a theoretical analysis on the economic incentives for emission abatement of producers subjected to carbon tariffs. We quantify the impacts of different carbon tariff designs by an empirically based multi-sector, multi-region CGE model of the global economy. We find that firm-targeted tariffs can deliver much stronger leakage reduction and higher efficiency gains than tariff designs operated at the industry level. In particular, because the exporters are able to reduce their carbon tariffs by adjusting emissions, their competitiveness and the overall welfare of their economies will be less randomly and less adversely affected than in previously studied carbon tariff regimes. This beneficial distributional impact could facilitate a higher degree of legitimacy and legality of carbon tariffs. |
| Keywords: | carbon leakage; border carbon adjustment; carbon tariffs; computable general equilibrium (CGE) |
| JEL: | D61 H20 Q43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsseb:2015_008&r=agr |
| By: | Olga Podkorytova; Yulia Raskina |
| Abstract: | Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) describes the relationship between the economic growth and the environmental degradation. Some researchers assume that this nexus may be influenced by international trade. In this paper we estimated EKC for carbon dioxide emissions using panel data for 15 countries of the former Soviet Union spanning the period 1990-2011. We revealed positive dependence of the carbon dioxide emissions on export. We also found that foreign direct investment does not affect air pollution. |
| Keywords: | environmental Kuznets curve, former USSR, carbon emissions, panel data, trade turnover |
| Date: | 2014–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eus:ce3swp:0414&r=agr |
| By: | Orazio Attanasio (University College London & Institute for Fiscal Studies); Corina Mommaerts (Dept. of Economics, Yale University); Costas Meghir (Cowles Foundation, Yale University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate partial insurance and group risk sharing in extended family networks. Our approach is based on decomposing income shocks into group aggregate and idiosyncratic components, allowing us to measure the extent to which each is insured, having accounted for public insurance programs. We apply our framework to extended family networks in the United States by exploiting the unique intergenerational structure of the PSID. We find that over 60% of shocks to household income are potentially insurable within family networks. However, we find little evidence that the extended family provides insurance for such idiosyncratic shocks. |
| Keywords: | Incomplete markets, Partial Insurance, Consumption smoothing, Extended Family Networks, Savings, Intergenerational transfers, Stochastic income processes |
| JEL: | D12 D31 D91 E21 E24 H31 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1996&r=agr |
| By: | Wuepper, David; Sauer, Johannes |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:201229&r=agr |
| By: | Kenneth Fortson; Randall Blair; Kathryn Gonzalez |
| Abstract: | In this report, we present key findings of an impact evaluation of the Rural Road Rehabilitation Project (RRRP) in Armenia. The RRRP was originally conceived as part of a five-year, $236 million Compact between the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Armenia designed to increase household income and reduce poverty in rural Armenia. |
| Keywords: | Rural Road Rehabilitation Project, Armenia, International |
| JEL: | F Z |
| Date: | 2015–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:3dad6663ad0343f28cb24633d310c7a3&r=agr |