|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2015‒06‒27
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Stephen C. Smith (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates causal impacts of a large-scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers on food security in Uganda through a regression discontinuity design that exploits an arbitrary distance-to-branch threshold for village program eligibility. We find eligible farmers experienced significant increases in agricultural production, savings and wage income, which lead to improved food security. Given minimal changes in adoption of relatively expensive inputs including HYV seeds, these gains are mainly attributed to increased usage of improved cultivation methods that are relatively costless. These results highlight the role of improved basic methods in boosting agricultural productivity among poor farmers. |
| JEL: | O13 I30 I12 Q12 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2015-11&r=agr |
| By: | Zareena Begum Irfan (Madras School of Economics); Bina Gupta (Department of Environmental Science, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand) |
| Abstract: | Constitutionally in India, the individual states have responsibility for water, forests, and agriculture. Major canal irrigation accounts for over 80 percent of India's irrigation. The intensive wheat irrigated system in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh states of India is observed to analyze the impact of incentive mechanism favoring the crop yield and water use. The regions selected for the present study are built on a long tradition of canal irrigation. Findings from farm surveys are used to examine water management and water productivity in the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh state. Attributes of the irrigation sources help explain the widespread interest in groundwater use and the relative demise of canal water use. Sole consumption of groundwater as irrigation source was altered by the initiation of conjunctive water of both surface and ground through the incentive pathway by municipal level irrigation managers. A combination of technological, land use and market based approaches is likely to be most effective in achieving sustainable water management in these intensive cereal systems. Based on the data set for the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the overall goal of this paper was to examine how the irrigation management reform has proceeded since the early stages of implementation and what the impacts are of the incentive mechanisms on water use and crop yields. The results show that irrigation management reform has accelerated in the study sites. The econometric model results indicate that using incentive mechanisms to promote water savings is effective under the arrangement of contracting management. However, if incentives are provided to the irrigation managers, the wheat yield declines significantly. The results imply that at the later stage of the reform, the cost of reducing water use by providing incentives to managers includes negative impacts on crop yields. Therefore, the design of win–win supporting policies is aimed to be achieved from the present study to ensure the healthy development of the irrigation management reform. |
| Keywords: | Canal Irrigation, Incentive, Water Use, Crop yield |
| JEL: | Q15 Q25 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2015-101&r=agr |
| By: | Yasuyuki Todo (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University); Petr Matous (Complex Systems Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Sydney); Dagne Mojo (Holetta Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta, Ethiopia) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of social network structure on the diffusion of agricultural technologies using household-level panel data from Ethiopia. We correct for possible biases due to the endogeneity of social networks using a social experiment in which we provide mobile phones to randomly selected households. We find that the effect of social networks varies depending on the network structure and characteristics of the technologies considered. The diffusion of information on a simple technology is determined by whether farmers know an agricultural extension agent. However, the diffusion of information on a more complex technology is not promoted by simply knowing an extension agent but by knowing an agent that a particular household can rely on and by clustered networks in which most friends of the household are friends of each other. This finding suggests that knowing and understanding more complex technologies require strong external ties and flows of the same information from multiple sources. |
| Keywords: | knowledge diffusion, technology adoption, agriculture, social network, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | O13 O33 Q16 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:1505&r=agr |
| By: | Katsushi S. Imai (Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK and Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University); Raghav GAIHA (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, India and Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University Boston, USA) |
| Abstract: | Drawing upon cross-country panel data for developing countries, the present study examines the role of agricultural growth in reducing inequality and poverty by modelling the dynamic linkage between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. For this purpose, we have compared the role of agricultural growth and that of non-agricultural growth and have found that agricultural growth is more important in reducing inequality and poverty. The role of agricultural growth in reducing inequality is, however, undermined by ethnic fractionalisation which tends to make inequality more persistent. Our analysis reinforces the case for revival of agriculture in the post-2015 discourse, contrary to the much emphasised roles of rural-urban migration and urbanisation as main drivers of growth and elimination of extreme poverty. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Poverty, Growth, Agriculture, Non-agriculture, MDG |
| JEL: | C20 I15 I39 O13 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2015-23&r=agr |
| By: | Carlos çlvarez-Nogal (Universidad Carlos III); Leandro Prados de la Escosura (Universidad Carlos III and CEPR); Carlos Santiago-Caballero (Universidad Carlos III) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of agriculture in SpainÕs contribution to the little divergence in Europe. On the basis of tithes collected by historians over the years, long-run trends in agricultural output are drawn. After a long period of relative stability, output suffered a severe contraction during 1570-1590, followed by milder deterioration to 1650. Output per head moved from a relatively high to a low path that persisted until the Peninsular War. The demand contraction, resulting from the collapse of domestic markets, monetary instability, and war in Iberia, helps to explain a less intensive use of labour and land as incentives to produce for the market sharply diminished. Agricultural output per head moved along population up to 1750. This finding confirms the view of Spain as a land abundant frontier economy. Only in the late eighteenth century a Malthusian pattern emerged. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, little divergence, early modern Spain, tithes, output per head |
| JEL: | N53 O13 Q10 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0080&r=agr |
| By: | Mark Kilgour (University of Waikato); Riteshni Tarak (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | New Zealand’s economy is highly dependent on its agricultural sector (dairy, beef and sheep farming). Agriculture accounts directly for approximately 4.5% of the economy’s real GDP and contributes over 50% of the total export earnings (The Treasury, 2014). Despite this, there has been a steady decline in New Zealand’s market share in the global meat market, with a ten year meat production growth rate, between 2001 -2011, of -0.2% (Coriolis, 2014). This highlights the need for New Zealand to have a defined business growth strategy in order to increase its market share. According to The Epoch Times, the Halal food industry is estimated to be worth $2.1 trillion worldwide, while the United Kingdom Halal meat market is estimated to be worth £3 billion (Morrison, 2014). This paper undertook a survey to analyse the demand characteristics of Muslim consumers of New Zealand Halal meat in the United Kingdom. The results showed that awareness, availability, transparency and, most importantly, trust were significant attributes sought after by the target market. |
| Keywords: | Halal meat marketing; agribusiness; consumer behaviour; agricultural marketing |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2015–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:market:1501&r=agr |
| By: | Bluffstone,Randy; Dannenberg,Astrid; Martinsson,Peter; Jha,Prakash; Bista,Rjesh |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether cooperative behavior by respondents measured as contributions in a one-shot public goods game correlates with reported pro-forest collective action behaviors. All the outcomes analyzed are costly in terms of time, land, or money. The study finds significant evidence that more cooperative individuals (or those who believe their group members will cooperate) engage in collective action behaviors that support common forests, once the analysis is adjusted for demographic factors, wealth, and location. Those who contribute more in the public goods experiment are found to be more likely to have planted trees in community forests during the previous month and to have invested in biogas. They also have planted more trees on their own farms and spent more time monitoring community forests. As cooperation appears to be highly conditional on beliefs about others? cooperation, these results suggest that policies to support cooperation and strengthen local governance could be important for collective action and economic outcomes associated with forest resources. As forest management and quality in developing countries is particularly important for climate change policy, these results suggest that international efforts such as the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation should pay particular attention to supporting governance and cooperation at the local level. |
| Keywords: | Common Property Resource Development,Forestry Management,Wildlife Resources,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Environmental Economics&Policies |
| Date: | 2015–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7323&r=agr |
| By: | Millimet, Daniel L. (Southern Methodist University); McDonough, Ian K. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas); Fomby, Thomas B. (Southern Methodist University) |
| Abstract: | Food insecurity is one of the most, if not the most, significant, nutrition-related public health issue confronted in the US. Unfortunately, we know very little about the determinants of food security except that it is not synonymous with poverty. Many households above the poverty line are food insecure; many below are not. We investigate a lack of financial literacy as a potential salient determinant of household-level food security. In light of the recent financial crisis and the burgeoning literature on financial literacy, we know that inadequate financial skills and practices are a significant problem that spans all socioeconomic groups. Using original survey data collected among food pantry clients in North Texas, we assess the causal effect of financial literacy on food security. Our results indicate a strikingly significant effect, both economically and statistically. |
| Keywords: | food security, financial literacy, poverty |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9103&r=agr |
| By: | Bluffstone,Randy; Somanathan,Eswaran; Jha,Prakash; Luintel,Harisharan; Bista,Rajesh; Paudel,Naya; Adhikari,Bhim |
| Abstract: | This paper estimate the effects of collective action in Nepal?s community forests on four ecological measures of forest quality. Forest user group collective action is identified through membership in the Nepal Community Forestry Programme, pending membership in the program, and existence of a forest user group whose leaders can identify the year the group was formed. This last, broad category is important, because many community forest user groups outside the program show significant evidence of important collective action. The study finds that presumed open access forests have only 21 to 57 percent of the carbon of forests governed under collective action. In several models, program forests sequester more carbon than communities outside the program. This implies that paying new program groups for carbon sequestration credits under the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing may be especially appropriate. However, marginal carbon sequestration effects of program participation are smaller and less consistent than those from two broader measures of collective action. The main finding is that within the existing institutional environment, collective action broadly defined has very important, positive, and large effects on carbon stocks and, in some models, on other aspects of forest quality. |
| Keywords: | Common Property Resource Development,Forestry Management,Wildlife Resources,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change and Environment |
| Date: | 2015–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7327&r=agr |
| By: | Valentine van Gameren; Edwin Zaccai |
| Abstract: | To understand and guide present and future adaptation to climate change, in-depth field studies are required in many sectors. The forestry sector, with its long time laps between decisions to plant and harvesting stands, is among the most relevant to investigate in this respect. This contribution analyzes the results of a survey conducted in Wallonia (Belgium) among private forest owners (PFO) and an array of organizations, both public and private, that influence these owners' actions. The objective of our research is to investigate already implemented or envisaged practices of climate change adaptation as well as the adaptive capacity of these PFOs. In this respect, adaptive capacity is defined as ". the ability of systems, institutions, humans and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences (of climate change)" (. IPCC, 2014, p. 2).The results show that different ways of (not) integrating climate change in forest management are visible in the sample of PFOs that can be divided into different profiles of (non) adapters. Analyzing these profiles reveals the influence of multiple objective and sociocognitive factors contributing to the PFOs adaptive capacity. The way climate change adaptation is conceived and implemented by other forest and timber actors has also repercussions on adaptive capacity as some adaptive measures are promoted and facilitated while others are hindered. These results bring fruitful aspects for understanding concrete adaptive processes and are relevant for decision-making as they point out some strengths or weaknesses in terms of adaptive capacity. |
| Keywords: | Adaptive capacity; Adaptive practice; Climate change; Forest management; Wallonia |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/200733&r=agr |
| By: | Dissanayake,Sahan T. M.; Jha,Prakash; Adhikari,Bhim; Bista,Rajesh; Bluffstone,Randall; uintel,Harisharan; Martinsson,Peter; Paudel,Naya Sharma; Somanathan,E.; Toman,Michael A. |
| Abstract: | A significant portion of the world?s forests that are eligible for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, known as REDD+, payments are community managed forests. However, there is little knowledge about preferences of households living in community managed forests for REDD+ contracts, or the opportunity costs of accepting REDD+ contracts for these communities. This paper uses a choice experiment survey of rural communities in Nepal to understand respondents? preferences toward the institutional structure of REDD+ contracts. The sample is split across communities with community managed forests groups and those without community managed forest groups to see how prior involvement in community managed forest groups affects preferences. The results show that respondents care about how the payments are divided between households and communities, the severity of restrictions on firewood use, the restrictions on grazing, and the fairness of access to community managed forest resources as well as the level of payments. The preferences for REDD contracts are in general similar between community managed and non-community managed forest resource respondents, but there are differences, in particular with regard to how beliefs influence the likelihood of accepting the contracts. Finally, the paper finds that the opportunity cost of REDD+ payments, although cheaper than many other carbon dioxide abatement options, is higher than previously suggested in the literature. |
| Keywords: | Forestry Management,Wildlife Resources,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change and Environment,Environmental Economics&Policies |
| Date: | 2015–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7326&r=agr |
| By: | D. W. Kinkini Hemach; ra |
| Abstract: | This study examines voluntary adoption of environmental management practices in the textile and apparel sector in Sri Lanka. The textile and apparel industry contributes to 58% of total industrial export earnings and 52% of industrial employment in the country. Factories in this sector undertake different production activities and the Sri Lankan Central Environmental Authority identifies washing and dyeing factories as significant contributors to water pollution. In this study, we review existing environmental rules and regulations that apply to the textile and apparel sector and follow up with an econometric analysis of data from a factory survey and a set of detailed case studies. Our sample covers factories that are registered with the Sri Lankan Board of Investment, which primarily gathers large-scale export-oriented companies operating in the apparel sector. Study findings show that 96% of the factories surveyed voluntarily implemented at least one environmental management practice such as water recycling, material re-use and environmental audits and certification. 69% adopted more than two practices. Most of the surveyed factories had been inspected by regulators, but had never been fined. Our analyses suggest that while factories are responsive to existing regulations, market pressure from international buyers may be the dominant reason why Sri Lankan firms adopt good environmental practices. The analyses also suggest that firm's size and type of activities undertaken are the most significant factors that influence decisions to voluntarily adopt environmental management practices. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Management Practices, Apparel and Textile industry, Sri Lanka. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:93&r=agr |
| By: | Ngoulma, Jeannot |
| Abstract: | Willingness to pay (WTP) and consumer’s preferences for dairy products (milk, yogurt, butter and cheese) have attracted attention of researchers. Therefore, several studies have focused on the question of the measure of WTP for these different products. However, these studies found a value of WTP, which is positive or negative between different dairy products, or through the same types of products. We conduct a meta-analysis with the aim to observe the different factors, which can explain the variations of the results of the studies. Therefore, we selected 21 studies (corresponding to 142 observations) which estimates the WTP of consumers for dairy products. A geographical Indication (GI), a Bio label or other signs of quality, differentiates these products. As results, we found that on average, label’s effect is an important quality signal for surveyed consumers. Indeed, GI and Bio label on average increase the WTP of consumers for dairy products. Then, we highlighted that European consumers have an average of positive WTP for dairy products and this result is quite pronounced for French consumers. On the other hand, consumers seem to have a higher WTP for products derived from cow's milk and goat's milk. Finally, among dairy products, cheese has on average a negative and highly significant WTP. These results remain robust, that we use a sample consumer’s (conjoint analysis, auction, choice experiment, etc.) or a sample prices (hedonic price method), even after withdrawal of outliers. We concluded that the case of the cheese deserves more attention due to the particularity of consumer’s WTP for this type of dairy product. |
| Keywords: | consumer, willingness to pay, meta-analysis, dairy products |
| JEL: | Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65250&r=agr |
| By: | Lars Ravn-Jonsen (Department of Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark); Ken H. Andersen (Center for Ocean Life, Natl. Inst. of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark); Niels Vestergaard (Department of Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | Ecosystem externalities arise when one use of an ecosystem affects its other uses through the production functions of the ecosystem.We use simulations from a size-spectrum ecosystem model to investigate the ecosystem externality created by fishing of multiple species. The model is based upon general ecological principles and is calibrated to the North Sea. Two fleets are considered: a “forage fish” fleet targeting species that mature at small sizes and a “large fish” fleet targeting large piscivorous species. Based on the marginal analysis of the present value of the rent, we develop a benefit indicator that explicitly divides the consequences of fishing into internal and external benefits. This analysis demonstrates that the forage fish fleet has a notable economic impact on the large fish fleet, but the reverse is not true. The impact can be either negative or positive, which entails that for optimal economic exploitation, the forage fishery has to be adjusted according to the large fish fishery. With the present large fish fishery in the North Sea, the two fisheries are well adjusted; however, the present combined exploration level is too high to achieve optimal economic rents. |
| Keywords: | Ecosystem Externalities, Forage Fish, Benefit Indicator, Marine Ecosystems, Fisheries management, Size-based, North Sea |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sdk:wpaper:121&r=agr |
| By: | Beyene,Abebe; Bluffstone,Randy; Gebreegzhiaber,Zenebe; Martinsson,Peter; Mekonnen,Alemu; Vieider,Ferdinand |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a randomized experimental design with real-time electronic stove temperature measurements and controlled cooking tests to estimate the fuelwood and carbon dioxide savings from an improved cookstove program in the process of being implemented in rural Ethiopia. Knowing more about how households interact with improved cookstoves is important, because cooking uses a majority of the fuelwood in the country and therefore is an important determinant of greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air pollution. Creating local networks among stove users generally appears to increase fuelwood savings, and among monetary treatments the most robust positive effects come from free distribution. The paper estimates that on average one improved stove saves approximately 634 kilograms of fuelwood per year or about 0.94 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which is about half of previous estimates. Using the May 2015 California auction price of $13.39/ton, the carbon sequestration from each stove deployed is worth about $12.59. Such carbon market offset revenues would be sufficient to cover the cost of the stove within one year. |
| Keywords: | Oil Refining&Gas Industry,Urban Environment,Energy Production and Transportation,Energy Conservation&Efficiency,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases |
| Date: | 2015–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7324&r=agr |
| By: | Maria Teresa Gorgitano (Università di Napoli Federico II.); Ornella Wanda Maietta (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify which variables affect the degree of primary pupils' satisfaction concerning the quality of school meals. A representative sample of 33 public primary schools offering meals was extracted for the metropolitan city of Naples. Two questionnaires were distributed, one to the headteachers concerned and the other to the pupils enrolled in the 5th grade. Information about the catering companies is mainly sourced from the AIDA database. Pupil satisfaction is measured by two key variables: pleasantness of eating at school and food tastiness. Controlling for pupil, family, school, foodservice and catering company characteristics, the paper shows that catering company size is negatively associated with pupil satisfaction with the foodservice, whereas meal average production cost is positively associated with satisfaction. The study could assist city boroughs in devising meal quality indicators to be taken into account in designing competitive tendering. |
| Keywords: | school meal quality, school foodservice satisfaction, catering companies, public procurement, tendering, quality-shading hypothesis. |
| JEL: | I21 H44 |
| Date: | 2015–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:405&r=agr |
| By: | Jean-Marc Roda (CESSMA - Centre d'Etudes en Sciences Sociales sur les Mondes Africains, Américains et Asiatiques - UP7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - IRD (FRANCE), UR Valorisation des bois tropicaux - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, INTROP - Institute of Tropical Forestry & Forest Products - University of Putra Malaysia, FRIM - Forest Research Institute of Malaysia - FRIM, CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement); Norfaryanti Kamaruddin (INTROP - Institute of Tropical Forestry & Forest Products - University of Putra Malaysia); Rafael Palhiarim Tobias (UR Valorisation des bois tropicaux - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement) |
| Abstract: | Promoting tropical forest sustainability among corporate players is a major challenge. Many tools have been developed, but without much success. Southeast Asia has become a laboratory of globalization processes, where the development and success of agribusiness transnationals raises questions about their commitment to environmental concerns. An abundance of literature discusses what determines the behavior of Asian corporations, with a particular emphasis on cultural factors. Our hypothesis is that financial factors, such as ownership structure, may also have a fundamental role. We analyzed the audited accounts of four major Asian agribusiness transnationals. Using network analysis, we deciphered how the 931 companies relate to each other and determine the behavior of the transnationals to which they belong. We compared various metrics with the environmental commitment of these transnationals. We found that ownership structures reflect differences in flexibility, control and transaction costs, but not in ethnicities. Capital and its control, ownership structure, and flexibility explain 97% of the environmental behavior. It means that existing market-based tools to promote environmental sustainability do not engage transnationals at the scale where most of their behavior is determined. For OPEN ACCESS Forests 2015, 6 1455 the first time, the inner mechanisms of corporate governance are unraveled in agricultural and forest sustainability. New implications such as the convergence of environmental sustainability with family business sustainability emerged. |
| Date: | 2015–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:cirad-01164222&r=agr |
| By: | Pierluigi Conzo (Università di Torino and CSEF); Giulia Fuochi (Università di Torino); Letizia Mencarini (Università di Torino and Collegio Carlo ALberto) |
| Abstract: | There is a growing number of studies focusing on the role of fertility in subjective well-being in developed countries while developing countries have been rarely taken into account. We investigate the empirical relationship between fertility and life satisfaction in rural Ethiopia, the largest landlocked country in Africa providing the unique opportunity of panel data availability. Our results suggest that older men benefit the most in terms of life satisfaction from the investment in children, the latter being instead detrimental for women’s subjective well being in reproductive age. In particular, consistently with the related socio-economic theories, we find that the number of children ever born plays a positive role for men’s life satisfaction in older age. Conversely, a new birth produces the opposite effect especially for young women. We argue that this mismatch has two complementary explanations: on the one hand, rather than a source of (labour) support young children represent a burden which traditionally falls on women’s shoulders in the short run; on the other hand, in poor rural areas children can be thought as a valuable long-term investment in a life-cycle perspective. Endogeneity issues are addressed by controlling for lagged life satisfaction in OLS regressions, through fixed effects and the IV approach. |
| Date: | 2015–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:407&r=agr |
| By: | Nuno Teles (Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal) |
| Abstract: | The study analyses the evolution of water provision in Portugal. It argues that the Portuguese water system of provision is deeply marked by the process of financialisation of the Portuguese economy, leading to high levels of private indebtedness that sustained a neoliberal agenda until the crisis of 2008-09. The history of the neoliberal transformation of water provision in Portugal is examined, paying particular attention to the progress achieved and the transformations occurring in its business model and finances, including the role of different agents in these processes. The neoliberal transformation of the Portuguese system of water provision is then set against the effects of the recent economic crisis. It concludes that the recent progress in the water SoP has been interrupted through a halt in investment and pressure for higher tariffs which, in a context of declining disposable income, intensifies social vulnerability. |
| Keywords: | Financialisation, Water provision, Portugal |
| JEL: | H4 G28 L95 H63 Q25 F34 |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper102&r=agr |
| By: | Goeschl, Timo; Kettner, Sara Elisa; Lohse, Johannes; Schwieren, Christiane |
| Abstract: | Evidence from public good game experiments holds the promise of instructive and cost-effective insights to inform environmental policy-making, for example on climate change mitigation. To fulfill the promise, such evidence needs to demonstrate generalizability to the specific policy context. This paper examines whether and under which conditions such evidence generalizes to voluntary mitigation decisions. We observe each participant in two different decision tasks: a real giving task in which contributions are used to directly reduce CO2 emissions and a public good game. Through two treatment variations, we explore two potential shifters of generalizability in a within-subjects design: the structural resemblance of contribution incentives between the tasks and the role of the subject pool, students and non-students. Our findings suggest that cooperation in public good games is linked to voluntary mitigation behavior, albeit not in a uniform way. For a standard set of parameters, behavior in both tasks is uncorrelated. Greater structural resemblance of the public goods game leads to sizable correlations, especially for student subjects. |
| Date: | 2015–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0595&r=agr |
| By: | Lucas Bretschger (ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Alexandra Vinogradova (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | The paper derives general rules for equitable burden sharing in international climate policy. The focus is on a new social climate contract between developed and less developed countries (LDCs) which preserves competitiveness of the former and the ”right to development” of the latter. We formally derive conditions under which an LDC keeps the ”right to development” but voluntarily agrees to participate in stringent international climate policy. Two types of policies are analyzed, one with a predefined transfer and the other with a transfer that is tied to emissions-control efforts. We show that offering only one or the other option is inefficient. Chances for a comprehensive agreement are higher when a menu of policy options is available. The number and diversity of LDCs willing to join a global climate treaty is higher when a variety of policy alternatives is available. |
| Keywords: | Climate policy, less developed countries, equitable burden sharing, right to development, international climate agreement. |
| JEL: | Q43 O47 Q56 O41 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:15-217&r=agr |