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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒06‒05
thirty papers chosen by |
| By: | Chris Shultz (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics); Joshua C. Hall (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics); Michael P. Strager (West Virginia University, Division of Resource Management) |
| Abstract: | Given the push toward renewable and alternative energy, a new energy mix is emerging. Wind is the fastest growing source of renewable electricity in the United States. The siting of wind turbines has proven controversial with multiple operations facing local resistance. Opponents cite issues such as noise, bird deaths, and aesthetics. Given that farmer portfolios are heavily comprised of land assets, the possibility that surrounding wind energy operations may reduce agricultural land value is of concern. This study examines that possibility using a hedonic regression analysis comparing per acre land value to a series of land characteristics and distance variables for Somerset County, PA. Results indicate no significant relationship between the presence of wind turbines and the value of agricultural land. This confirms the findings of similar studies which have examined the same relationship. |
| Keywords: | wind energy, hedonic regression, agricultural economics |
| JEL: | Q14 Q15 Q18 Q42 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:15-11&r=agr |
| By: | Holden, Stein T. (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Climate risk represents an increasing threat to poor and vulnerable farmers in drought-prone areas of Africa. This study assesses the maize and fertilizer adoption responses of food insecure farmers in Malawi, where Drought Tolerant (DT) maize was recently introduced. A field experiment, eliciting relative risk aversion, loss aversion and subjective probability weighting parameters of farmers, is combined with a detailed farm household survey that measured the intensity of adoption of different maize types and fertilizer use on the different maize types and recorded exposure to past and present drought and other shocks. More risk averse households were more likely to have adopted DT maize, less likely to have adopted other improved maize varieties and less likely to have dis-adopted traditional local maize. Exposure to past drought shocks stimulated adoption of DT maize and dis-adoption of local maize. Over-weighting of small probabilities was associated with less use of fertilizer on all maize types. |
| Keywords: | Drought risk; shocks; risk aversion; subjective probability weighting; loss aversion; technology adoption; adaptation; Cragg model; maize; Drought Tolerant maize; fertilizer use |
| JEL: | C93 D03 O33 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsclt:2015_003&r=agr |
| By: | Lana Nastic, Marko Jelocnik, Jonel Subic (Institute of Agricultural Economics) |
| Abstract: | In the last few decades, vegetable production in greenhouses has been more and more presented within the national agriculture. On small agricultural holdings, in aforementioned form of protected production area, dominate the tomato, cucumber and pepper growing. However, in recent years, beside vegetable crops, flowers are more and more grown (seedlings and cut flowers), where on the territory of Panèevo city, in cut flowers production calla lily becomes particularly interesting to producers. In paper are presented some specificities in cucumber and calla lily production in greenhouse, with the main goal to easily determine (according to contribution margin analysis in the cut flowers (calla lily) and cucumber production) in which line of plant production can be expected achievement of potentially better financial results. All, for analysis, necessary data were obtained from the small family agricultural holdings located at the territory of Panèevo city (within the Metropolitan area Belgrade - Novi Sad). After analytical calculations based on the variable costs have been made, it can be concluded that producers may generally achieve better production results within the calla lily production. |
| Keywords: | contribution margin, calla lily, cucumber, greenhouse |
| JEL: | Q12 Q14 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:casctr:2014-419&r=agr |
| By: | Cazzuffi, Chiara |
| Abstract: | Agricultural markets are often characterised by imperfect competition between buyers of farm produce. Cooperatives are often regarded as one possible way to enhance welfare for small producers, while others view them as an inefficient historical relic. My thesis investigates empirically the coexistence of cooperative and capitalistic processing and marketing firms in the market for raw milk in three Italian provinces, using a dataset I collected via a survey of dairy farmers. First, I analyse what accounts for variation in market structure within each province and what drives coop membership when choice is available. Geography is found to influence both number and nature of processing firms operating at a given location. Where farms are more isolated and scale of production is smaller, cooperatives have – historically – tended to prevail, and often remain the only buyer today. Where both coops and capitalistic processors are available, parental membership status is more important for the decision of a farmer to join the cooperative, suggesting some degree of inertia. Second, I investigate whether there is any evidence that selling through a cooperative makes a difference for farmers, with respect to both price and non-price characteristics of the relationship. With respect to non-price characteristics, results show that cooperatives draw less complex contracts with members compared to capitalistic processors with their suppliers, are less likely to pay a lower price than agreed, and more likely to offer technical assistance. Members and non-members do not appear to differ in their perceived net benefits from the exchange relationship, but benefits from membership appear to be larger for smaller than larger farmers. As regards whether cooperative membership, per se, has any effect on price paid to farmers, the theoretical literature suggests that asymmetric price competition between two firms with different objective functions, in a spatial market, under different spatial pricing policies, can lead to price differences between the two. This prediction is tested by estimating the effect of coop membership on prices paid using four different nonexperimental evaluation methods. The results show a positive and significant effect of membership, driven by more remote farmers with smaller scale of production, located in areas of cooperative monopsony. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0413&r=agr |
| By: | Igor Mladenovic, Jelena Mladenovic (University of Niš, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The processing sector in Serbia has not managed to consolidate even after more than a quarter century since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Food production in Serbia shares the fate of the entire production sector, as its integral part. Despite this fact, food production is more and more seen as the opportunity for increasing employment and the level of economic activity in Serbia. Especially after the introduction of EU sanctions by Russia, advocates of export of food products as the development opportunities for Serbia are growing louder. This made us pose the research question relating to whether economic growth in the area of food production has effects on employment level in Serbia? In searching for the answer to this question, we constructed a sample of the 20 largest food producers in Serbia and investigated the correlation between the level of economic activity in these companies and the number of their employees. We did the same for the 20 largest manufacturers in Slovenia and Croatia, and tested the hypothesis about the food production as the development opportunity. |
| Keywords: | the food production sector, employment, economic activity and the regression model |
| JEL: | J23 E24 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:casctr:2014-409&r=agr |
| By: | Lovo, Stefania |
| Abstract: | This thesis analyses farm household behaviour and livelihood strategies in the presence of market imperfections. The first chapter uses a farm household model to explain the presence of three household groups determined on the basis of the labour regime adopted: small-scale peasants, self-cultivators and hiring-in households. A partial generalised ordered logit model is used to test the main predictions of the model using data from the 1997 Rural Survey. The results show that access to liquidity and market imperfections matter in the choice of the labour strategy and that liquidity constrained households are more likely to sell labour off-farm. The second chapter provides an analysis of household technical effciency (TE) using using data on the KwaZulu Natal Province. The analysis is conducted at household-level and off-farm activities are considered as additional outputs of production. This approach better captures the jointness between farm and non-farm activities generated by the presence of market imperfections. An important source of liquidity for the household is the receipt of a pension. Its effect on household TE is identified exploiting the age eligibility criteria adopted by the pension program. The results show that access to liquidity and income diversification has positive effects on household TE. Finally the last chapter investigates the relationship between land and household welfare. It uses the year of arrival in the current location as an instrument for land access and size for households in the former homelands. This identification strategy relies on the argument that African households have been forcibly relocated to the homelands since the introduction of the Native Land Act in 1913. Because of increasing population pressure in the homelands, later arrivals were less likely to have access to land and to larger plots of land. Results show that access to land positively affects the welfare of rural household. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0111&r=agr |
| By: | Grebitus, Carola; Steiner, Bodo; Veeman, Michele |
| Abstract: | This study explores influences of human values and trust on stated preferences for food labeled with environmental footprints. We apply survey data to assess influences of these individual-specific characteristics on German consumers’ stated choices of potatoes, through an attribute-based choice experiment in which product alternatives are described by footprint labels and prices. We find that accounting for consumers’ value systems, but not generalized trust beliefs, aids in understanding choices and identifying possible markets for footprint-labeled food products. |
| Keywords: | carbon footprint, ecological, Rokeach Value Survey, environmental sustainability, mixed logit |
| JEL: | C25 C9 M31 Q5 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64630&r=agr |
| By: | Martuscelli, Antonio |
| Abstract: | In this thesis we investigate the supply side of farm households in the Tanzanian region of Kagera and incorporate the results into a welfare analysis of price shocks and trade policy options. The first chapter discusses the relevance of agriculture as an engine of growth and poverty reduction and introduces the context and the data used for the empirical analysis. The second chapter tests for separability of the households demand and supply sides and then estimates supply functions for the main crops. We find that separability cannot be rejected for this sample and that farmers are only partially responsive to price incentives. The third chapter analyses the role of market participation decisions and transaction costs for food supply. We find that transaction costs play an important role in households supply decisions. Moreover, we show that there is a positive although small supply response to prices once controlling for the unresponsiveness of self-sufficient households. The fourth chapter extends the standard welfare impact analysis of price shocks to incorporate supply and demand responses as well as the role of market participation and transaction costs. We find that the results are sensitive to the introduction of households’ output, wage and consumption responses. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0113&r=agr |
| By: | Bayudan-Dacuycuy, Connie; Lim, Joseph Anthony |
| Abstract: | This paper uses panel data and two welfare indicators, namely per capita expenditure and per capita food expenditure, to determine the frequency that the households enter poverty and food poverty in the Philippines. Unlike other studies, this paper attributes similar factors to explain transient and chronic poverty but finds that these factors are more pronounced for the chronic cases. Significant factors that contribute to both chronic and transient poverty and food poverty are the household heads’ low educational level, affiliation in economically unstable and risky occupations such as those in the agriculture, fishery and resource sectors and those who are unskilled laborers, the lack of health insurance and high dependency burden. It also finds that that vulnerability to poverty and food poverty in the Philippines is high especially in the rural districts and areas with armed conflict. Households that experience higher earnings, new job, abundant harvest, better health or receipt of remittance/inheritance are less likely to be chronically poor. Shocks related to labor market affect both transient and chronic food poverty while natural calamities or health deterioration of any household member increase the probability of the household falling into chronic food poverty. Policies suggestions to address both types of poverty are provided based on these results. |
| Keywords: | Poverty dynamics; Spells approach; Philippines |
| JEL: | I32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64747&r=agr |
| By: | Perge, Emilie |
| Abstract: | Poverty within forests is often acknowledged but poorly assessed through economic evidence. To some extent, this lack of evidence explains why even if forest conservation has positive effects on households' welfare, such benefits are quite limited. This thesis is aimed at investigating in three steps how forest conservation can help poor forest households to improve their welfare. A first chapter deals with assessing poverty of forest households in Bolivia looking at their asset accumulation and allowing for a poverty trap mechanism that may arise, preventing households to be better off. The empirical analysis does not find evidence for the existence of a poverty trap. Households are slowly accumulating assets over time but such an accumulation does not lead to any improvements in their welfare. Households would remain persistently poor. A second chapter focuses on forest households' labour supply and allocations. Using primary data I collected in Cameroon, a non-separable agricultural household model is employed to identify factors influencing household labour supply and allocations into diverse activities. The empirical results shows that leisure is an inferior good, households working more when having greater income. Furthermore, households participating in forest activities have higher levels of welfare than households that do not. Increasing prices of forest resources helps households to improve their welfare. The last chapter deals with designing payments for forest conservation so as to encourage forest households to internalise externalities. These payments are theoretically analysed using a principal-agent game in order to define incentives such that a forest group plants and conserves a great number of trees. Payments are non-zero when observing such conservation levels and equal to zero in all other cases. Doing so creates a virtuous circle on forest resources. Pro-poor conservation schemes as opposed to non-pro poor, are achievable with lower payments. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0211&r=agr |
| By: | Korkeala, Outi Kaarina |
| Abstract: | Climate variability and climate change have become important research topics also in economics. The objective of this thesis is not to forecast the future but to learn from the past by studying how two important climate change-related topics have affected Indonesian households. Delayed monsoon onset, El Niño, will become more frequent with climate change whereas palm oil production is a contributor to climate change. The first essay examines how variability in monsoon onset affects rural households' welfare in terms of household expenditure and farm profits. Using the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) data I find that households in the middle tercile of the expenditure distribution face the biggest albeit temporary losses from delayed monsoon onset. Half of the expenditure decline is due to increase in household size. Conditional on onset, rainfall intensity has only minor effects. The second essay uses the IFLS data to study how schooling and child labour are affected by delayed monsoon onset. The probability of continuing from primary to secondary school is reduced when a delayed onset coincides with the transition year. In other respects, monsoon onset does not affect education of rural children. However, riskier distribution of rain postpones school entry for young children. Moreover, delayed onset increases child labour. Using district-level data on palm oil production and area planted and national household survey (SUSENAS) the third essay studies the impact of oil palm expansion on household expenditure and health. Instrumental variable estimates exploit the historical production and district forest area as an exogenous source of variation. I find that smallholder production has a weak negative impact on household expenditure but this effect is not present among rural households. More, total production increases incidence of asthma in Kalimantan. The findings suggest that palm oil is not a panacea to increase rural welfare. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0612&r=agr |
| By: | Vassiliki Manoussi; Anastasios Xepapadeas |
| Abstract: | We study a dynamic game of climate policy design in terms of emissions and solar radiation management (SRM) involving two heterogeneous countries or group of countries. Countries emit greenhouse gasses (GHGs), and can block incoming radiation by unilateral SRM activities, thus reducing global temperature. Heterogeneity is modelled in terms of the social cost of SRM, the environmental damages due to global warming, the productivity of emissions in terms of generating private benefits, the rate of impatience, and the private cost of geoengineering. We determine the impact of asymmetry on mitigation and SRM activities, concentration of GHGs, and global temperature, and we examine whether a tradeoff actually emerges between mitigation and SRM. Our results could provide some insights into a currently emerging debate regarding mitigation and SRM methods to control climate change, especially since asymmetries seem to play an important role in affecting incentives for cooperation or unilateral actions. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, mitigation, solar radiation management, cooperation, differential game, asymmetry, feedback Nash equilibrium |
| JEL: | Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:1511&r=agr |
| By: | Anna Bartczak (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; Warsaw Ecological Economics Center); Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the possibility of forest policy changes in Poland. The main objective is to investigate whether, and to whom, the society would be willing to pay for providing biodiversity enhancement in private forests. The empirical evidence is derived from a stated preference survey conducted on the national level and analyzed using a multinomial logit model (MNL). Our findings show a rather strong potential for the implementation of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in private forests, even though historical and institutional conditions are not favorable. The results also indicate a significant role of environmental attitudes in viewing the national and local governments as those responsible for financing the implementation of changes in private forests. They allow to provide recommendations for planning authorities and decision-makers not only in Poland but also in the other Central and Eastern European countries, where payments for ecosystem services have no long tradition. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, environmental attitudes, forest policy, payments for ecosystem services, private forests |
| JEL: | D01 H4 Q23 Q51 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2015-20&r=agr |
| By: | Biljana Grujic, Nataša Kljajic, Svetlana Roljevic (Institute of Agricultural Economics Belgrade) |
| Abstract: | Subject of this paper is to introduce the concept of globalization in general, and the possibility of making different strategies of development of this sector in Serbia. It also states the importance of the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which can be said with certainty that it is initiator of the globalization of all sectors of the economy. The aim of the study was to determine the strength of the globalization on agriculture in Serbia. Finally, given is the production of selected vegetables (potatoes, beans, peppers and tomatoes) in Serbia in the period 2000 - 2012 total and by population. Research methods are based on a literature search of specify themes, consultation with experts in agriculture and application of mathematical and statistical methods (rate of change). |
| Keywords: | globalization, WTO, transition, farming, population |
| JEL: | Q10 Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:casctr:2014-422&r=agr |
| By: | Zouabi, Oussama |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the direct and indirect effect of precipitation and temperature on the citrus production of governorate i and neighboring governorates by using a spatial modeling to allow for spatial effects, as well as individual and temporal effects of spatial autocorrelation. Results from Spatial Autoregressive Model (SAR) and Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) prove that the groundwater of the governorate i can be an effective solution for the farmer as long as the means are implemented so that he can exploit. Results also show that the effect of temperature through the hydric resources of governorate i and the neighboring governorates represent a negative spillover effect. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, spatial Econometrics, Agriculture, Tunisia. |
| JEL: | C21 Q1 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64715&r=agr |
| By: | BEN ZAIED, YOUNES; Zouabi, Oussama |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes to model the long run impact of climate change on olive output in Tunisia, the third largest olive-oil producing country in the world, using panel cointegration techniques. The long run analysis reveals that temperature increase and inappropriate working tools reduce olive output in semi arid areas. Therefore, we propose an appropriate training for workers to develop their skills and public policy subsidizing the innovation of used capital stock at least in the south. We propose encouraging the development of drought tolerant olive trees, especially in the south of Tunisia where global warming has caused a severe drought . |
| Keywords: | Olive output, Tunisia, Panel cointegration, climate change, adaptation |
| JEL: | C1 Q1 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64711&r=agr |
| By: | Bonnet, Céline; Dubois, Pierre |
| Abstract: | Using typical demand data on differentiated products markets, we show how to identify and estimate vertical contract terms modelling explicitly the buyer power of downstream firms facing two part tariff offered by the upstream firms. We consider manufacturers and retailers relationships with two part tariff with or without resale price maintenance and allow retailers to have a buyer power determined by the horizontal competition of manufacturers. Our contribution allows to recover price-cost margins at the upstream and downstream levels as well as fixed fees of two-part tariff contracts using the industry structure and estimates of demand parameters. Empirical evidence on the market for bottles of water in France shows that two part tariff contracts are used without resale price maintenance and that the buyer power of supermarket chains is endogenous to the structure of manufacturers competition. We are able to estimate total fixed fees and profits across manufacturers and retailers. |
| Keywords: | buyer power; differentiated products; retailers; two part tariff; vertical contracts |
| JEL: | C12 C33 L13 L81 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10623&r=agr |
| By: | Aljona Karlõševa (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Sulev Nõmmann (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Tea Nõmmann (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Evelin Urbel-Piirsalu; Wiktor Budziński (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Mikołaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Nick Hanley (University of St Andrews) |
| Abstract: | The drive to increase renewable electricity production in many parts of Europe has led to an increasing concentration of location of new sites at sea. This results in a range of environmental impacts which should be taken into account in a benefit-cost analysis of such proposal. In this paper, we use choice modelling to investigate the relative gains and losses from siting new windfarms off the coast of Estonia, relative to the option of creating a new marine protected area. Methodologically, the paper makes a contribution by showing the ability of the latent class mixed logit model to represent both within-and between-class preference heterogeneity, and thus its power to provide a more sophisticated representation of preference heterogeneity than latent class or mixed logit approaches. The paper is also the first to use the latent class mixed logit in willingness-to-pay space for environmental goods. |
| Keywords: | discrete choice experiment, off-shore wind energy, marine protected areas, willingness to pay, renewable energy |
| JEL: | Q51 O13 Q56 Q58 Q42 Q48 Q25 Q28 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2015-19&r=agr |
| By: | Arias-R., Omar Fdo.; Aza-Jacome, Alfonso |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this note is to estimate the relative impact of interdiction and land control on the colombian cocaine market. The government interdicts part of the cocaine traffic and controls part of the arable land with the aim of weakening this illegal market. Our estimation depends on the price elasticity of the coca-leaf supply, in particular, the importance of the land with respect to other factors in the production of coca-leaf. |
| Keywords: | cocaine, coca-leaf, land control, interdiction |
| JEL: | D42 J42 K42 |
| Date: | 2015–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64716&r=agr |
| By: | Qureshy, Lubina F. |
| Abstract: | This thesis identies, inter alia, the socio-economic factors that affect malaria incidence at both the household and district levels and investigates how these differ across rural and urban settlement-types. In addition, state level data for India are used to examine the effect of aggregate income relative to that of public health expenditure on malaria incidence. The household and district-level analysis focuses on the state of Uttar Pradesh and exploits the National Family Health Survey, which is the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) for India, for two time periods - 1992-93 and 1998-99 - and combines these data with the district-level census data for 1991 and 2001. A key theme of the micro-level analyses is whether household wealth exerts a negative impact on malaria incidence. Wealth is measured using the DHS data by constructing a consumer durable asset-index by Principal Components Analysis and malaria incidence was modelled using a probability model. The household-level analysis reveals that the relationship between socio-economic status and malaria incidence is not always negative. For example, owning a water pump, indicative of a higher socio-economic status, has a positive impact on malaria incidence and being of a lower caste has a negative impact. Variables that support the negative socio-economic status and health relationship include having an electricity connection in the house, having access to a protected public drinking water supply rather than an open source, and living farther away from open water sources. The aggregate (or panel data) analysis was undertaken using data for 15 states in India covering the time period 1978 to 2000. The aggregate analysis reveals that income has a negative impact on malaria incidence but direct expenditure on health is more effective in bringing about a decline in malaria incidence - an increase of a rupee in aggregate income per person reduces malaria incidence by 0.1 percent whereas an equivalent increase in real health expenditure per capita results in 0.4 percent decline in malaria incidence. The research undertaken for this thesis is unique in using the DHS to identify the factors aecting malaria incidence and shows that these data are very useful in exploring the relationship between malaria incidence and a host of socio-economic factors in order to identify areas for effective policy intervention. Such a holistic approach is critical in controlling and, eventually, eradicating malaria rather than relying primarily on more direct treatment strategies based on insecticide-treated bed nets and drug therapy. The areas where public spending could be directed to attack malaria identied by the empirical analysis include education, particularly raising awareness on prophylactic measures through adult literacy centres, controlling the breeding of mosquitoes in open water collection sites such as public taps and around water pumps and improving water flow in agricultural fields to prevent stagnant water collection. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0210&r=agr |
| By: | Westberg, Nina Bruvik (School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Several countries have made targeted input subsidy programs an integral part of their policies for improving food security. Given the programs' often centralized structure and targeting of private goods nation-wide, these may also serve as instruments for garnering electoral support. I investigate to what extent distributions from such a program was altered leading up to the 2009 Malawian presidential election, comparing the allocations of fertilizer vouchers in the last season prior to this relative to other seasons. I do not nd evidence of targeting at the incumbent's core supporters, whereas swing supporters receive on average more fertilizer vouchers in the 2008/09 season relative to other seasons. This increase comes at the expense of the main opponents' core supporters, whom receive on average fewer vouchers. These ndings add to the broader set of questions of whether targeted subsidies is the right approach for improving food security, and if so how. |
| Keywords: | fertilizer subsidies; elections; Malawi |
| JEL: | D72 H53 O13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsseb:2015_012&r=agr |
| By: | Leavy, Jennifer |
| Abstract: | This thesis explores the relationship between social networks and economic life in rural Zambia. The motivation for the study lies in the crucial role played by social context and social networks in exchange behaviour in rural sub-Saharan Africa, and inherent difficulties in formalising market transactions in this context within a standard neoclassical economics framework. The study examines the role of social networks in rural production systems, focusing on crop market participation. It is based on analysis of findings from social network research conducted by the author in three predominantly Bemba villages in Northern Province, Zambia. Data collected using quantitative and qualitative methods are used to map social networks of individuals and households. Variables are constructed capturing network characteristics, and incorporated into transactions cost models of ommercialisation. The overarching question is: do social networks play a role in determining farming success in settings with little variability between households on assets and endowments – land, labour, inputs – and where markets are incomplete or missing? Do social networks mediate market and resource access, helping to explain socio-economic differences between households? The research finds rural life is characterised by diverse networks with multiple, overlapping functions. Much economic exchange takes place on reciprocal or kinship bases, rooted in social norms and reflecting community structures. How social networks are measured matters. Different network attributes are important for different people, and relationships between networks and outcomes depend on the measure used. Controlling for endogeneity, estimation results suggest larger networks have a negative effect on crop incomes whereas having a greater proportion of kin in the network has a positive effect, implying that in this context strong ties are key. Qualitative research suggests the nature of people’s networks and their positions within them play an important role in the command over labour: “the famous always get their work done" |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susphd:0812&r=agr |
| By: | Richard Dutu |
| Abstract: | Indonesia abounds with natural resources. But the unique nature of its geography, coupled with the lack of transport infrastructure, makes their exploitation challenging. Moreover, a lack of investment, protectionism and an unwieldy regulatory environment are all inhibiting the sector from reaching its full potential. Agriculture has been held back by low productivity, under-investment, unclear property rights on land, ill-advised trade regulations, misplaced support for staples and restrictions on foreign ownership. By pursuing crop diversification, encouraging co-operation between smallholders and large estates and easing constraints on foreign investment, Indonesia could raise its farmers’ productivity. Fossil fuels have become central to Indonesia’s energy policy and its main source of export revenues. Growing environmental concerns, both domestically and internationally, combined with subsiding coal prices and the on-going shale gas revolution, call into question the sustainability of such a strategy. Indonesia should increase its energy efficiency and further develop gas to plug the gap until sufficient renewable energy, especially geothermal, comes on line. Government control over the oil industry via state-owned Pertamina should be gradually reduced. Clarifying, streamlining and publicising simple regulations in energy and minerals, especially regarding land rights and on-shore processing, and removing foreign-ownership restrictions will help bring much needed investment. The pressure on the environment that natural resource exploitation is creating should be addressed by increasing the share of gas and renewables in the energy mix, properly defining property rights and regulations regarding forest land, and implementing a positive implicit carbon price. More resources should be devoted to combating widespread illegal mining and deforestation. This Working Paper relates to the 2015 OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-indonesia.htm)<P>Exploiter au mieux les ressources naturelles en Indonésie<BR>L’Indonésie dispose de ressources naturelles abondantes, mais leur exploitation est rendue difficile par la géographique particulière du pays qui se conjugue au manque d’infrastructures de transport. De plus, l’absence d’investissement, le protectionnisme et la complexité de l’environnement réglementaire sont autant de facteurs qui empêchent ce secteur d’atteindre son plein potentiel. L’agriculture pâtit de la faiblesse de la productivité, du sous-investissement, des incertitudes entourant les droits de propriété des terres, de réglementations commerciales peu judicieuses, de mesures inadéquates de soutien aux produits de première nécessité et de restrictions sur les participations étrangères. La productivité des agriculteurs indonésiens pourrait être stimulée par différentes mesures visant à encourager la diversification des cultures, favoriser la coopération entre les petits propriétaires et les grandes exploitations et alléger les contraintes pesant sur l’investissement étranger. Les combustibles fossiles ont pris une place centrale dans la politique énergétique de l’Indonésie et représentent aujourd’hui sa principale source de revenus d’exportation. La montée des préoccupations environnementales, au plan intérieur comme international, qui vient s’ajouter à la diminution des prix du charbon et à la révolution en cours liée au gaz de schiste, appellent à s’interroger sur la viabilité d’une telle stratégie. L’Indonésie pourrait accroître son efficacité énergétique et continuer à développer le gaz pour combler le déficit jusqu’à pouvoir disposer de suffisamment d’énergies renouvelables, notamment géothermique. Le contrôle de l’industrie pétrolière exercé par l’État via l’entreprise publique Pertamina devrait être progressivement réduit. Clarifier, rationaliser et simplifier la réglementation dans les secteurs de l’énergie et des minéraux, en particulier du point de vue des droits fonciers et du traitement terrestre, et lever les restrictions pesant sur les participations étrangères contribueront à attirer les investissements si nécessaires. Les pressions exercées sur l’environnement par l’exploitation des ressources naturelles devraient être allégées par une augmentation de la part du gaz et des énergies renouvelables dans le bouquet énergétique, par une définition adéquate des droits de propriété et des réglementations relatives aux terrains boisés et par la mise en place d’un prix implicite du carbone positif. Il conviendrait de consacrer des ressources plus importantes à la lutte contre les exploitations minières et la déforestation illégales. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de l’Indonésie, 2015 (www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/etude-econom ique-indonesie.htm) |
| Keywords: | environment, gas, natural resources, agriculture, Indonesia, coal, minerals, energy, oil, pétrole, environnement, énergie, charbon, Indonésie, minerais, agriculture, ressources naturelles, gaz |
| JEL: | O13 O53 Q01 |
| Date: | 2015–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1236-en&r=agr |
| By: | Cheng, Zhiming; Wang, Ben |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impacts of subjective and objective measures of environmental quality on happiness and willingness to pay higher prices in China. We find that a higher level of happiness is associated with better air quality, but not necessarily with better water quality. The government can encourage willingness to pay for the former, but can only substitute it for the latter. Although perceived environmental quality is important for willingness-to-pay, it plays little role in rating happiness. However, a more highly perceived government effort increases both people’s life satisfaction and willingness-to-pay. |
| Keywords: | China; happiness; willingness-to-pay; environmental issues |
| JEL: | O13 Q53 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64676&r=agr |
| By: | Savage, Micheal; Callan, Tim; Nolan, Brian; Colgan, Brian |
| Abstract: | The advent of the Great Recession and the widespread adoption of fiscal austerity policies have heightened concern about inequality and its effects. We examine how the distribution of income in Ireland has evolved over the years 2008 to 2013, using data from the CSO?s Survey on Income and Living Conditions. Snapshots of the income distribution show that the greatest falls in income were for the bottom decile (poorest 10 per cent). Longitudinal analysis shows that these sharp falls were not due to decreasing income for those remaining in the bottom decile, but to falling income among those with somewhat higher incomes. Most of those falling into the bottom decile came from the bottom one third of the income distribution. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp499&r=agr |
| By: | Zaman, Gheorghe; Antonescu, Daniela |
| Abstract: | Under the global and financial crisis impact, the structure of regional and local trade flows witnessed significant changes. In this context, Romania’s exports are dominated by the cars, devices, electric equipment, transportation means, agricultural food products’, chemical, basic metals, textiles and footwear industry, etc. The exported goods have, to a large extent, a low technological level, being controlled by a small number of companies that have a relatively high share in their volume and being, as a rule, direct foreign investments. In the Romanian' top of exporters and importers we found the same counties where operates, as a rule, at least one large company with foreign capital. The study paid a specific attention to the crisis impact on foreign trade in Romania, focusing on export sector as revealing the endogenous growth generating potential at regional and county level. |
| Keywords: | endogenous regional growth, global crisis; foreign trade, export resilience |
| JEL: | F1 F15 F4 F43 R1 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64678&r=agr |
| By: | Pfohl, Hans-Christian; Zuber, Christian; Berbner, Ulrich |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:70589&r=agr |
| By: | Roy Carr-Hill |
| Abstract: | The success of PISA since its first survey administration in 2000 has attracted an ever increasing number of participating countries. With an increasingly diverse group of countries, the targeting of the original assessment may be less appropriate than when it was first conceived for a smaller more uniform group of countries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the technical issues in respect of Strand C (assessing competencies of those out-of-school) and to discuss and present ways of addressing these issues. |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:120-en&r=agr |
| By: | Mayula Chaikumbung; Hristos Doucouliagos; Helen Scarborough |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first comprehensive synthesis of economic valuations of wetlands in developing countries. Meta-regression analysis (MRA) is applied to 1432 estimates of the economic value of 379 distinct wetlands. We find that wetland size has a negative effect on wetland values, marine wetlands are more valuable than estuarine wetlands, and per capita GDP has a positive effect on wetland values. Wetland services for water treatment and biodiversity are valued more highly than recreation. Wetland values estimated by stated preferences are lower than those estimated by market price methods. The MRA benefit transfer function has an average transfer error of 31%, with a median transfer error of 17%. Overall, MRA appears to be useful for deriving the economic value of wetlands at policy sites in developing nations. |
| Keywords: | meta-regression analysis, valuing ecosystem services, value transfer, wetlands |
| JEL: | Q25 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dkn:econwp:eco_2015_10&r=agr |
| By: | Bojan Krstic, Milica Tasic, Vladimir Ivanovic (University of Niš, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Lifecycle analysis is one of the techniques for assessing the impact of enterprise on the environment, by monitoring environmental effects of the product along its lifecycle. Since the cycle can be seen in stages (extraction of raw materials, raw materials processing, final product production, product use and end of use of the product), the analysis can be applied to all or only some parts of the aforementioned cycle, hence the different variants of this technique. The analysis itself is defined in phases according to the of ISO 14040 standard series, and involves defining the objectives and scope of analysis, life cycle inventory data analysis, life cycle impact assessment and lifecycle interpretation. Although its use is characterized by certain disadvantages, it can be said that this is still a very valuable management tool without which one cannot imagine the process of effective environmental decision-making in the modern enterprise, and consequently the complete adoption of environmentally responsible way of doing business. |
| Keywords: | lifecycle analysis, ISO 14040, environmental responsibility |
| JEL: | Q50 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:casctr:2014-402&r=agr |