|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2015‒09‒05
35 papers chosen by |
| By: | Johnston, Deborah; Stevano, Sara; Malapit, Hazel J.; Hull, Elizabeth; Kadiyala, Suneetha |
| Abstract: | Existing reviews on agriculture and nutrition consider limited evidence and focus on impact size, rather than impact pathway. This review overcomes the limitations of previous studies by considering a larger evidence base and exploring time as one of the agriculture-nutrition pathways. Agricultural development plays a role in improving nutrition. However, agricultural practices and interventions determine the amount of time dedicated to agricultural and domestic work. Time spent in agriculture—especially by women—competes with time needed for resting, childcare, and food preparation and can have unintended negative consequences for nutrition. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, gender, women, nutrition, households, time use, agricultural interventions, evidence reviews, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1456&r=all |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Heisey, Paul; Schimmelpfennig, David; Ball, Eldon |
| Abstract: | U.S. agricultural output more than doubled between 1948 and 2011, with growth averaging 1.49 percent per year. With little growth in total measured use of agricultural inputs, the extraordinary performance of the U.S. farm sector was driven mainly by increases in total factor productivity (TFP—measured as output per unit of aggregate input). Over the last six decades, the mix of agricultural inputs used shifted significantly, with increased use of intermediate goods (e.g., fertilizer and pesticides) and less use of labor and land. The output mix changed as well, with crop production growing faster than livestock production. Based on econometric analysis of updated (1948-2011) TFP data, this study finds no statistical evidence that longrun U.S. agricultural productivity has slowed over time. Model-based projections show that in the future, slow growth in research and development investments may have only minor effects on TFP growth over the next 10 years but will slow TFP growth much more over the long term. |
| Keywords: | U.S. agriculture, total factor productivity, TFP, labor productivity, land productivity, productivity slowdown, public R&D, private R&D, extension, infrastructure, public research., Agricultural and Food Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:207954&r=all |
| By: | Li, Jian (Huazhong Agricultural University and University of WI); Li, Chongguang (Huazhong Agricultural University); Chavas, Jean-Paul (University of WI) |
| Abstract: | The last decade has witnessed different price trajectories in the international and Chinese agricultural commodity markets. This paper compares and contrasts these dynamic patterns between markets from the perspective of price bubbles. A newly developed right-tailed unit root testing procedure is applied to detect price bubbles in the CBOT and Chinese agricultural futures market during the period 2005-2014. Results show that Chinese markets experienced less prominent speculative bubbles than the international markets for its high self-sufficiency commodities (wheat and corn), but not for low self-sufficiency commodities (soybean). The difference in price behavior is attributed to differences in market intelligence, and to Chinese agricultural policies related to trade as well as domestic government policies. Besides, it discusses challenges to the sustainability of the stable price trajectory in Chinese markets. |
| JEL: | D84 G12 G13 G14 Q14 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:wisagr:579&r=all |
| By: | Stephen Langrell (European Commission – Directorate General for Health and Food Safety); Sebastian Mary (DePaul University – Department of Economics); Pavel Ciaian (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Sergio Gomez y Paloma (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Natalya SHAGAIDA (RANEPA, Moscow, Russia); Renata Yanbykh (VIAPI, Moscow, Russia); Peter Voight (European Commission - Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs); Ashok K. Mishra (Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA); Amaranth Tripathi (Institute for Economic Growth, Delhi, India); Holly Wang (Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA); Thomas Fellmann (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Sergio René Araujo Enciso (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Jacques Delince (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Guna Salputra (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Thomas Fellmann (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Fabien Santini (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Robert M'barek (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Marco Artavia (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | Food security remains to be a major societal concern. In the light of the current expectations of population growth, world food production has to be massively increased to sustain the associated food demand rise. While agricultural productivity was rising during recent decades in the US, Europe and also in some developing countries, the corresponding growth rates lately appeared to be slowing down. In fact, the only world region with a significant amount of arable land, which currently is not under cultivation and which at the same time is, moreover, experiencing rising productivity figures, is the so called 'Eurasian wheat belt', comprising of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian countries, namely Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kirgizstan. In this light, the Joint Research Centre and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development organized a thematic workshop, held during 20 – 22 May 2014 in Istanbul/Turkey, set up to bring experts on the matter together and to discuss to what extent these countries could play a role for regional and international food security. Following the workshop analysis and discussion, this report provides a comprehensive technical overview of the wheat production, and the main factors to achieve full production potential across the Eurasian wheat belt with regards to national, regional and global issues of cereal supply and food security in evolving global markets. It reviews key horizontal issues, such as land policy, credit and finance, privatization, farm structures, social consequences of transition, environmental challenges, against the backdrop of agrarian reforms implemented during the transition period. In addition the report explores production potential and corresponding institutional and policy restrictions in a series of Eurasian countries. Finally, the report closes with expert opined policy-relevant conclusions as a basis for policy suggestions and recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Food security; Eurasia; CIS; Wheat; Transition; Land reform; Agricultural policy; Agricultural markets; Russia; Ukraine; Kazakhstan. |
| JEL: | Q02 Q13 Q15 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc95580&r=all |
| By: | Johnson, Nancy L.; Atherstone, Christine; Grace, Delia |
| Abstract: | This paper describes and assesses the strength of a theory of change for how adoption of farm-level technologies and practices for aflatoxin mitigation can contribute to reductions in aflatoxin exposure among consumers in a market context. In response to widespread concerns about the public health consequences of aflatoxin exposure and its implications for agricultural development and trade, risk-mitigating agricultural technologies and practices are being developed and adapted for developing-country contexts. While some of the technologies have been shown to be effective in reducing on-farm aflatoxin contamination, links between technology adoption and reduced aflatoxin exposure among consumers have not been clearly described. Often, a win-win situation is assumed, although the pathways by which adoption of improved practices by farmers contribute to reduced exposure among consumers are complex and gendered. There any many underlying assumptions, especially about market incentives, consumer behavior, and the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of regulatory approaches in domestic markets in developing countries. Based on the analysis, priority areas for research and development, in particular in CGIAR, are identified. |
| Keywords: | aflatoxins, mycotoxins, food safety, maize, groundnuts, crop improvement, postharvest technology, value chains, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1452&r=all |
| By: | Bold, Tessa (IIES, Stockholm University and Goethe University Frankfurt); Kaizzi, Kayuki C. (National Agricultural Research Laboratories, Kampala); Svensson, Jakob (IIES, Stockholm University); Yanagizawa-Drott, David (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | To reduce poverty and food insecurity in Africa requires raising productivity in agriculture. Systematic use of fertilizer and hybrid seed is a pathway to increased productivity, but adoption of these technologies remains low. We investigate whether the quality of agricultural inputs can help explain low take-up. Testing modern products purchased in local markets, we find that 30% of nutrient is missing in fertilizer, and hybrid maize seed contains less than 50% authentic seeds. We document that such low quality results in negative average returns. If authentic technologies replaced these low-quality products, average returns for smallholder farmers would be over 50%. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp15-033&r=all |
| By: | Julien Wolfersberger (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Serge Garcia (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Deforestation is a major environmental issue in developing countries, and agricultural land expansion is one of its main causes. The objective of this paper is twofold:(1) to identify the macroeconomic determinants of ending deforestation; and (2) to explain cumulative deforestation and other land uses. To do this, we first study the probability of a turning point for deforestation (i.e., the switch from decreasing to expanding forest areas), based on the Forest Transition (FT) theory. Second, we adapt a land-use model to explain the trade-off between forest and agriculture during development. To take the link between both phenomena into account, we estimate a dynamic panel seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model along with a switching regression model, applied to a dataset of 57 developing countries observed over four time periods. The estimation results reveal that economic development and institutions play a significant role in long-term deforestation. Our results also suggest that after the first development stage, agriculture and forest are not always competing land uses. Thus, these results give us new insights into public policies such as REDD+. |
| Keywords: | Forest Transition; Switching regression model; Dynamic panel SUR |
| JEL: | C34 O13 Q23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2015-05&r=all |
| By: | Johnson, Nancy L.; Mayne, John; Grace, Delia; Wyatt, Amanda |
| Abstract: | Increased consumption of meat, milk, eggs, and fish among poor consumers in developing countries has the potential to improve nutrition as well as drive pro-poor economic development. However, animal-source foods are a major source of food-borne disease. In addition to the health impacts, concerns about food safety can reduce consumption of nutritious foods and reduce market access for smallholders. Researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute and partners have developed and piloted an institutional innovation—a training, certification, and branding scheme for informal value chain actors—that has the potential to improve the safety of animal-source foods sold in informal markets. To support further research and, eventually, delivery at scale, this paper develops a theory of change for how the intervention is expected to contribute to better nutrition and health outcomes for consumers. The outcomes along the pathway from intervention to impact are identified, along with the underlying causal assumptions. For each assumption, the existing evidence is summarized and assessed. The results show that for some parts of the impact pathway, outcomes and causal links are well defined and supported by evidence, while for others, the program logic needs to be refined and more evidence gathered to validate hypothesized causal relationships in specific contexts. Addressing these gaps through research and through piloting interventions with development partners can increase the likelihood of achieving expected outcomes and contribute to learning about how to improve the performance of informal markets in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | food safety, markets, dairy, training, informal sector, certification, informal markets, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1451&r=all |
| By: | Zach Dorner (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Suzi Kerr (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Stroombergen and Reisinger’s (2012) modelling suggests global pricing of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including agricultural emissions, would be beneficial for the New Zealand economy, with higher GHG prices leading to greater economic benefit. Though this inference may seem counter-intuitive for a country in which agriculture is economically important, when the effects of GHG charges flow on to global commodity prices, the rise in global prices more than compensates NZ for the costs of our GHG emissions. These conclusions rest on a single set of models and several assumptions; however, the broad direction of the conclusions makes sense given the relatively low GHG emissions intensity of agriculture in NZ and the high importance of global commodity prices for NZ’s economic fortunes. In this paper we investigate the implications of Stroombergen and Reisinger’s (2012) results for a model NZ dairy and model NZ sheep and beef farm. We consider three climate policy scenarios that differ by whether agricultural emissions are included and priced globally, and in NZ. We find that NZ farmer interests generally align with NZ’s economic interests, though farmers are more greatly affected by differing international policy scenarios compared with the NZ economy as a whole. We find that the impact of the choice of metric (that is, how agricultural emissions are traded off against carbon dioxide emissions) is minor, especially when compared with the differences between international and domestic policy scenarios. On balance, our results suggest that long term, the best scenario for NZ and our farmers is to fully price global agricultural emissions within an international climate change agreement that allows NZ farmers to exploit their competitive advantage. |
| Keywords: | Climate change policy, methane, metrics, New Zealand, agriculture, greenhouse gas, economic impact, dairy farm, sheep and beef farm |
| JEL: | Q12 Q18 Q54 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:15_11&r=all |
| By: | Pukkanut Peuaksakon; Penporn Janekarnkij Author-Email : penporn.j@ku.ac.th (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics,Faculty of Economics,Kasetsart University,Thailand) |
| Abstract: | Over the past 20 years, flood and drought in Thailand have impacted up to 2.58 million farming households and caused damages about 6,000 million Baht each year. Various studies have examined natural hazard impacts on the Thai economy and particularly on agricultural sector. Moving towards sustainable development, economic vulnerability to natural hazards should be improved which could be linked to disaster mitigation policies and development. This study aims to explore the Kuznets relationship between economic growth and damages from flood and drought in the Thai agricultural sector using annual data at the provincial levels during 1989-2012. It is hypothesized that as the country becomes wealthier, appropriate development and investment in disaster mitigation could lead to disaster reduction in agricultural sector. Results from the random effect regression support the Kuznets hypothesis in the models for both flood and drought. Precipitation variation increases agricultural damages due to flood and drought significantly. Agricultural damages reduce with rising provincial incomes, increased flood retention area and increased areas for perennial crops. |
| Keywords: | Flood, Drought, Thai agricultural sector, Environmental Kuznets curve |
| JEL: | Q54 O44 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kau:wpaper:201505&r=all |
| By: | Kundu, AMIT; Talukdar, SANJIB |
| Abstract: | The basic objective of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (MGNREGP) is to provide safety net for the rural poor and to stabilize agricultural production through creating productive assets via employing labourers. Two important linked aspects are worth noting in respect of implementation of the program. Implementation of MGNREGP in multiple cropping areas can increase the employment opportunities among the landless agricultural labourers and thus has inevitably raised their bargaining power particularly during the time of second crop i.e. post rainy season cultivation. Besides this, Government of India has persistently been hiking per man-day MGNREGP wage. Both these instances undoubtedly increase the reservation wage in agricultural labour market which in turn may have an adverse effect on the farm income in the multi-cropping areas. In this paper, maximum possible per man-day MGNREGP wage is determined at which the corresponding agricultural wage can help the marginal farmers to sustain their net farm income at least at subsistence level. This paper also establishes the fact that as a result of the hike of MGNREGP wage, sustenance of subsistence net farm income may lead to price hike in agricultural sector. The study also attempts to analyze the results in respect of aggregate net pecuniary benefits of the rural poor in the light of MGNREGP considering different agricultural frameworks. |
| Keywords: | National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, Agricultural Labour Market, Net farm income, Aggregate net benefit, Material cost |
| JEL: | J43 O38 Q12 |
| Date: | 2014–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66237&r=all |
| By: | Inbasekar, Kalimuthu; Roy, Devesh; Joshi, Pramod Kumar |
| Abstract: | This study was undertaken to analyze the dynamics of production for pulses in India, one of the most important crops in India from the perspective of nutrition as well as environmental sustainability. India has been persistently deficient in pulses in spite of significant investment by the government over time. Using secondary data for a long period of time, from 1950 to 2011, we study how production of pulses has changed across regions and over time in India. Realizing the role of pulses in the cereals complex, the study shows the changing scenario in pulses production as it was crowded out by cereals with the advent of Green Revolution technologies. We create typologies of different phases in the evolution of production in India. Results show that there have been pronounced movements in pulses, with production centers shifting regionally from north to south and east to west and some concentration in central India. Notwithstanding the turnaround in pulses in the past three to four years, pulses have been moving increasingly to marginal unirrigated areas. The econometric results based on fixed-effects estimation establish that as irrigation becomes available there is a switch away from pulses toward competing crops. Recent advances in technology with short- to extra-short-duration varieties that fit into cereal-based systems have opened up new avenues for pulses reflected in increasing production. Also, we find no evidence of crowding out of domestic production because of liberalized trade, which has been the case in pulses for a long period of time. |
| Keywords: | grain legumes, pigeon peas, chickpeas, green revolution, pulses, competing crops, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1454&r=all |
| By: | Beaman, Lori (Northwestern University); Karlan, Dean (Yale University and Innovations for Poverty Action); Thuysbaert, Bram (Ghent University); Udry, Christopher (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | We partnered with a micro-lender in Mali to randomize credit offers at the village level. Then, in no-loan control villages, we gave cash grants to randomly selected households. These grants led to higher agricultural investments and profits, thus showing that liquidity constraints bind with respect to agricultural investment. In loan-villages, we gave grants to a random subset of farmers who (endogenously) did not borrow. These farmers have lower--in fact zero--marginal returns to the grants. Thus we find important heterogeneity in returns to investment and strong evidence that farmers with higher marginal returns to investment self-select into lending programs. |
| JEL: | D21 D92 O12 O16 Q12 Q14 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:yaleco:135&r=all |
| By: | Cem Karayalcin; Mihaela Pintea |
| Abstract: | The process of economic development is characterized by substantial reallocations of resources across sectors. In this paper, we construct a multi-sector model in which there are barriers to the movement of labor from low-productivity traditional agriculture to modern sectors. With the barrier in place, we show that improvements in productivity in modern sectors (including agriculture) or reductions in transportation costs may lead to a rise in agricultural employment and through terms-oftrade effects may harm subsistence farmers if the traditional subsistence sector is larger than a critical level. This suggests that policy advice based on the earlier literature needs to be revised. Reducing barriers to mobility (through reductions in the cost of skill acquisition and institutional changes) and improving the productivity of subsistence farmers needs to precede policies designed to increase the productivity of modern sectors or decrease transportation costs. |
| Keywords: | Production;Structural transformation, Subsistence agriculture, multi-sector models, Economic development, Transportation costs, transportation, agriculture, costs, productivity, General, General, General, |
| Date: | 2015–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:15/91&r=all |
| By: | Guta, Dawit; Jara, Jose; Adhikari, Narayan; Qiu, Chen; Gaur, Varun; Mirzabaev, Alisher |
| Abstract: | Access to modern energy is vital for sustainable development. In rural areas, decentralized energy solutions may play a significant role in reducing poverty, supporting community institutions and facilitating the generation of basic services such as communication, water access, education and health services. However, the majority of dwellers in off-grid communities in developing countries have little or no access to modern energy technologies, although they are endowed with a vast potential of renewable energy resources. Decentralized energy solutions could serve as an option to solve this energy access problem. However, the previous literature indicates that there are financial, technical, infrastructural, and institutional constraints to scale up decentralized energy options. This paper seeks to study the underlying factors behind the successes and failures of household- and community-based decentralized energy technologies through local case studies from different parts of the world, analyzed through the lenses of the Water-Energy-Food Security (WEF) nexus. First, the paper reviews the literature on the main benchmarks used to evaluate the success and failure of community-based energy. Second, the conceptual framework relating decentralized energy to the WEF nexus elements is briefly described. Thirdly, the methods and data used in the paper are described, followed by the presentation of the case studies. Lastly, the paper is concluded by drawing policy lessons and recommendations. Further empirical studies are recommended to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of decentralized energy solutions on the welfare of households and communities within the framework of the Water-Energy-Food nexus. |
| Keywords: | decentralized energy, Water-Energy-Food Security nexus, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, O13, Q40, |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:207713&r=all |
| By: | Gajate-Garrido, Gissele |
| Abstract: | There have been few empirical studies in the developing world and the agricultural sector, on the impact of negative health shocks on household well-being. Does the pervasive effect of a negative household-level health shock persist beyond its initial impact and indirectly affect long-run outcomes? What are the channels through which this impact affects household dynamics? To answer these questions this research paper measures the effect of household health shocks on female time allocation and agricultural labor participation in rural Pakistan. To deal with joint determination and measurement error issues, it uses a wide range of covariates found in the 2012 and 2013 Pakistan Rural Household Panel Surveys, including individual, year, and district fixed effects. This paper improves on previous research by providing evidence on the role of changes in female labor supply as an insurance mechanism and shedding light on the nonmonetary consequences of adverse health shocks. Increases in paid workload for women reduce time spent on household chores directly related to child quality. The paper shows how these changes in time allocation affect households’ overall well-being. |
| Keywords: | development, gender, women, division of labor, health shocks, agricultural productivity, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1449&r=all |
| By: | Mobarak, Ahmed Musfiq (Yale University); Rosenzweig, Mark (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the general-equilibrium labor market effects of a large-scale randomized intervention in which we designed and marketed a rainfall index insurance product across three states in India. Marketing agricultural insurance to both cultivators and to agricultural wage laborers allows us to test a general-equilibrium model of wage determination in settings where households supplying labor and households hiring labor face weather risk. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find that both labor demand and equilibrium wages become more rainfall sensitive when cultivators are offered rainfall insurance, because insurance induces cultivators to switch to riskier, higher-yield production methods. The same insurance contract offered to agricultural laborers smoothes wages across rainfall states by inducing changes in labor supply. Policy simulations based on our estimates suggest that selling insurance only to land-owning cultivators and precluding the landless from the insurance market (which is the current regulatory practice in India and other developing countries), makes wage laborers worse off relative to a situation where insurance does not exist at all. The general-equilibrium analysis reveals that the welfare costs of current regulation are borne by landless laborers, who represent the poorest segment of society and whose risk management options are the most limited. |
| JEL: | O13 O16 O17 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:yaleco:127&r=all |
| By: | Jean-Daniel Rinaudo (BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières); Marielle Montginoul (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs et Usages - Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement - AgroParisTech - Irstea - Centre International des Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes-Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier [CIHEAM-IAMM]); Jean-François Desprats (BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières) |
| Abstract: | In developed countries, a number of factors are leading a growing number of households to drill private boreholes as independent water supplies. This chapter describes this phenomenon based on two case studies conducted in Southern France and Western Australia. It shows that, while the development of private wells was encouraged by the authorities in Perth, it is a major source of environmental, public health, economic and social concern for French water utilities. Household's motivations to develop independent supply are then investigated. We finaly discuss how water utilities need to adapt their management practices (setting tariffs, demand forecasting and resource protection) to take into account this phenomenon. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01183835&r=all |
| By: | Peterman, Amber; Schwab, Benjamin; Roy, Shalini; Hidrobo, Melissa; Gilligan, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Despite wide use of women’s decisionmaking indicators, both as a direct measure of intrahousehold decisionmaking and as a proxy for women’s empowerment or bargaining power, little has been done to explore what such indicators capture and how effective they measure program impacts on empowerment. We review theoretical and operational evidence from recent literature on women’s decisionmaking and analyze survey experiments undertaken in cash and food transfer programs in Ecuador, Yemen, and Uganda from 2010 to 2012. We find large variations in how women are ranked in terms of decisionmaking depending on how indicators are constructed. In addition, we find that across countries, composite decisionmaking indicators are not consistently associated with other proxy measures of women’s empowerment or household welfare, such as women’s education levels or household food consumption. We also find mixed evidence across countries related to the impact of transfer programs on women’s decisionmaking indicators. We conclude with implications of our findings for future research and use of decisionmaking indicators for program evaluation in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | women, gender, decision making, households, food consumption, empowerment, cash transfer, social cash transfer, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1453&r=all |
| By: | Villoria, Nelson; Jing Liu |
| Abstract: | Global economic models with explicit treatment of global land markets are crucial to understanding the consequences of different policy choices on global food and environmental security. However, these models rely on parameters for which there is little econometric evidence. A fundamental parameter in these models is the land supply elasticity. We provide a novel set of land supply elasticities estimated using gridded data for the American continent, and we use them in exploring previous work on the indirect land-use effects of US ethanol policy. Our estimates provide a basis for better-informed simulations of global land-use transitions under different economic and policy scenarios. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gta:workpp:4843&r=all |
| By: | PONSSARD Jean-Pierre; SINCLAIR DESGAGNÉ Bernard; SOLER Louis-Georges; GIRAUD HERAUD Eric |
| Abstract: | Sustainable food concerns have pushed public authorities to act by means of regulations,\r\nstandards and other devices, and businesses to innovate in their products and production processes.\r\nWe argue that the Porter Hypothesis – which asserts that properly designed and implemented\r\nenvironmental regulation might be good for society as well as the targeted firms – might well be verified in this context. After reviewing and illustrating the working principles and main criticisms of this hypothesis, we provide a more in-depth discussion of nutritional issues. While the literature generally points to organizational imperfections and market failures to validate the Porter Hypothesis,we submit and model another rationale for the agro-food industry, a rationale that is based on consumer behavior. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable food; Regulation; Innovation; Consumer behavior; Porter Hypothesis. |
| JEL: | L13 L51 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2015-22&r=all |
| By: | Michael MacLeod; Vera Eory; Guillaume Gruère; Jussi Lankoski |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the international literature on the cost-effectiveness of supply-side mitigation measures that can reduce the emissions intensity of agriculture while maintaining or increasing production. Sixty-five recent international studies of cost-effectiveness covering 181 individual activities are reviewed. Nine case studies of well covered mitigation measures, generally using a cost-engineering approach, illustrate significant differences in the cost-effectiveness of measures across countries and studies, in part due to contextual differences. Although caution needs to be exercised in comparing heterogeneous studies, the results suggest that measures based on fertiliser use efficiency, cattle breeding, and potentially improving energy efficiency in mobile machinery, are often considered highly cost-effective mitigation measures across countries. A preliminary overview of policy highlights the existence of a range of options to encourage the adoption of cost-effective measures, from information to incentive-based policies. Further analysis is needed to address remaining estimation challenges and to help determine how mitigation measures may be embedded into broader climate, agricultural and environmental policy frameworks. |
| Keywords: | climate change, greenhouse gas mitigation, agricultural, cost-effectiveness, agriculture |
| JEL: | Q16 Q52 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:89-en&r=all |
| By: | Freeman, Mark C. (Loughborough University); Wagner, Gernot (Environmental Defense Fund); Zeckhauser, Richard J. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is real and dangerous. Exactly how bad it will get, however, is uncertain. Uncertainty is particularly relevant for estimates of one of the key parameters: equilibrium climate sensitivity--how eventual temperatures will react as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations double. Despite significant advances in climate science and increased confidence in the accuracy of the range itself, the "likely" range has been 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius for over three decades. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) narrowed it to 2-4.5 degrees Celsius, only to reverse its decision in 2013, reinstating the prior range. In addition, the 2013 IPCC report removed prior mention of 3 degrees Celsius as the "best estimate." We interpret the implications of the 2013 IPCC decision to lower the bottom of the range and excise a best estimate. Intuitively, it might seem that a lower bottom would be good news. Here we ask: When might apparently good news about climate sensitivity in fact be bad news? The lowered bottom value also implies higher uncertainty about the temperature increase, a definite bad. Under reasonable assumptions, both the lowering of the lower bound and the removal of the "best estimate" may well be bad news. |
| JEL: | D81 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp15-002&r=all |
| By: | Guy Robinson; Toby Daglish |
| Abstract: | Guy Robinson and Toby Daglish investigate the implications of fluctuating commodity prices on farm land values. |
| Date: | 2014–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwcrt:380203&r=all |
| By: | Philipp M. Richter (German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)); Roman Mendelevitch (German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)); Frank Jotzo (Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the introduction of an export tax on steam coal levied by an individual country (Australia), or a group of major exporting countries. The policy motivation would be twofold: generating tax revenues against the background of improved terms-of-trade, while CO2 emissions are reduced. We construct and numerically apply a two-level game consisting of an optimal policy problem at the upper level, and an equilibrium model of the international steam coal market (based on COALMOD-World) at the lower level. We find that a unilaterally introduced Australian export tax on steam coal has little impact on global emissions and may be welfare reducing. On the contrary, a tax jointly levied by a Òclimate coalitionÓ of major coal exporters may well leave these better off while significantly reducing global CO2 emissions from steam coal by up to 200 Mt CO2 per year. Comparable production-based tax scenarios consistently yield higher tax revenues but may be hard to implement against the opposition of disproportionally affected local stakeholders depending on low domestic coal prices. |
| Keywords: | Export tax; steam coal; supply-side climate policy; carbon leakage; Australia; Mathematical Program with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC) |
| JEL: | Q48 F13 Q58 Q41 C61 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1507&r=all |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an assessment of the competiveness performance of Swiss food industries. The approach taken here is to measure revealed performance, relying on indicators such as market performance, trade success and revealed comparative advantage indicators. The analysis of competitiveness examines the ex post performance of the industry in Switzerland compared to the same industry in benchmark countries in the European Union. |
| Keywords: | Switzerland, agro-food industry |
| JEL: | L6 L66 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:88-en&r=all |
| By: | Liliana N. Proskuryakova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The Foresight study presented in this paper is devoted to the sustainable use of water resources in Russia. The authors analyse possible trajectories of development in the three thematic areas (i) sustainability of water systems; (ii) water use by households and in industry; and (iii) new water products and services. The Foresight methods cover expert interviews and seminars, desk research, and policy analysis. The state and corporate policy recommendations for the water sector offered in this study correspond with the water scenarios earlier identified by Saritas et al.: “Nearly ideal future”, “Losses and accidents”, “Problem conservation”, and “National Priority” [Saritas et al., 2015]. For each of these four scenarios, policy recommendations for water companies were identified covering new solutions (including technological innovations), new values and competencies, organisational changes, modernisation of the infrastructure, financial issues, and legal and regulatory changes. Moreover, we recommend certain policy measures and approaches to state policy in the water sector. The paper concludes with the main directions and instruments for the sector’s development, which should be planned and implemented jointly by the government and businesses, as well as other stakeholders (organisations and people). |
| Keywords: | water resources, sustainable water systems, water use, water goods, water services, scenarios, water policy, water governance, water management, Foresight, Russia. |
| 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:44sti2015&r=all |
| By: | Deller, Steven (University of WI); Stickel, Maureen (University of WI) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we explore the role of small scale food processing in economic growth. Growth in small scale food processing is relevant due to the growing emphasis on local food initiatives used to spur local economic growth. We utilize US county level data on small food processors and a neo-classical growth model to better understand if small food processors are affecting economic growth. Preliminary results suggest that small scale food processing has a mixed role in helping understand local economic growth. |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:wisagr:577&r=all |
| By: | Gaurav Arora; Peter T. Wolter; David A. Hennessy (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)); Hongli Feng |
| Abstract: | We consider land use change in Iowa's Loess Hills, which contain much of the state's remaining prairie grassland. Although crop production has expanded on the landform since 2005, much of this expansion has been from soybean into corn with a clear trend toward more intensive corn rotations. Forest land has expanded in the area while we do not find evidence of extensive conversion to development. Data indicate that crop production has moved away from more heavily sloped land, but the increase in cropping does not appear to be occurring on land with high crop productivity. |
| Keywords: | Agro-environmental policy, erodibility, hill terrain, monoculture, land quality. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:15-wp558&r=all |
| By: | Nanak Kakwani; Hyun H. Son |
| Abstract: | Food insecurity is a complex development issue dealing with physical and economic constraints to safe and nutritious food to maintain healthy living. This paper proposes a new approach to measuring food insecurity. Households or individuals are deemed food insecure if their access to food sufficient to meet their nutritional needs is limited by lack of resources. This paper estimates the per capita monetary cost of a food basket that provides a balanced diet through adequate nutrients including calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates to maintain good health. The per capita monetary cost of food is calculated in terms of U.S. dollars based on the 2005 Purchasing Power Parity to compare estimates across countries. The findings reveal substantial progress in reducing global food insecurity during 2002–2011. In just one decade, the percentage of food insecure people, who are likely to suffer from hunger, notably decreased from 21.59\% in 2002 to 10.98\% in 2011, with more than 455 million people lifted out of food insecurity. Despite such progress, some 626 million people in the globe are still food insecure. Among the regions, Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from severe hunger. This paper estimates that with its trend growth rate, Sub-Saharan Africa will need almost three decades to eradicate food insecurity. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2015-370&r=all |
| By: | Mark C. Freeman; Ben Groom; Richard Zeckhauser |
| Abstract: | The initial hope for climate science was that an improved understanding of what the future might bring would lead to appropriate public policies and effective international climate agreements. Even if that hope is not realized, as now seems likely, scientific advances leading to a more refined assessment of the uncertainties surrounding the future impacts of climate change would facilitate more appropriate adaptation measures. Such measures might involve shifting modes or locales of production, for example. This article focuses on two broader tools: consumption smoothing in anticipation of future losses, and physical adaptation measures to reduce damages. It shows that informative signals on climate-change effects lead to better decisions in the use of each tool. |
| JEL: | D8 D83 E21 H41 H43 Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21463&r=all |
| By: | Dranco, Daniel; Luiselli, Luca |
| Abstract: | A Contingent Valuation (CV) was used to estimate the common goods’ overall value of three landscapes (woodlands, wetlands, rural landscape) of the Province of Rome, to use them for policy and administration purpose. Both single and multi-bounded discrete choice models was used. The results are similar between models with a repeated maximum likelihood trend of decreasing mean values from rural landscape to wetlands. The statistical robustness of this trend can be explained by the different organization of multiple consequential and deontological motives that build up preferences. The value assigned by tax payers to common goods analysed sums to a large extent up to the province budget and mean direct use values per hectare are comparable (cropland) or much smaller (woodlands) than indirect and non use values. The indications obtained could be considered robust enough to address decisions and policies (like that of rural development) about how much to pay for common goods management services. |
| Keywords: | willingness to pay, Contingent Valuation, ecosystem services, public goods, Total Economic Value, multiple motivations distribution, pay for ecosystem services. |
| JEL: | Q57 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66309&r=all |
| By: | Chang, C-L.; Li, Y.; McAleer, M.J. |
| Abstract: | __Abstract__ Energy and agricultural commodities and markets have been examined extensively, albeit separately, for a number of years. In the energy literature, the returns, volatility and volatility spillovers (namely, the delayed effect of a returns shock in one asset on the subsequent volatility or covolatility in another asset), among alternative energy commodities, such as oil, gasoline and ethanol across different markets, have been analysed using a variety of univariate and multivariate models, estimation techniques, data sets, and time frequencies. A similar comment applies to the separate theoretical and empirical analysis of a wide range of agricultural commodities and markets. Given the recent interest and emphasis in bio-fuels and green energy, especially bio-ethanol, which is derived from a range of agricultural products, it is not surprising that there is a topical and developing literature on the spillovers between energy and agricultural markets. Modelling and testing spillovers between the energy and agricultural markets has typically been based on estimating multivariate conditional volatility models, specifically the BEKK and DCC models. A serious technical deficiency is that the Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Estimates (QMLE) of a full BEKK matrix, which is typically estimated in examining volatility spillover effects, has no asymptotic properties, except by assumption, so that no statistical test of volatility spillovers is possible. Some papers in the literature have used the DCC model to test for volatility spillovers. However, it is well known in the financial econometrics literature that the DCC model has no regularity conditions, and that the QMLE of the parameters of DCC has no asymptotic properties, so that there is no valid statistical testing of volatility spillovers. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the theory and practice in testing for volatility spillovers between energy and agricultural markets using the multivariate BEKK and DCC models, and to make recommendations as to how such spillovers might be tested using valid statistical techniques. Three new definitions of volatility and covolatility spillovers are given, and the different models used in empirical applications are evaluated in terms of the new definitions and statistical criteria. |
| Keywords: | Energy markets, agricultural markets, volatility and covolatility spillovers, univariate and multivariate conditional volatility models, BEKK, DCC, definitions of spillovers |
| JEL: | C22 C32 C58 G32 O10 Q42 |
| Date: | 2015–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:78349&r=all |
| By: | Bhargava, Anil K.; Lybbert, Travis J.; Spielman, David J. |
| Abstract: | With growing pressure on groundwater resources, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) look especially promising as a method of agricultural adaptation and poverty alleviation. While private benefits of WCTs are increasingly understood, public benefits are not as clear as they may seem. Some research has highlighted behavioral responses and diffusion as social consequences of private adoption. This paper focuses on the geophysical complications that shape public benefits across landscapes, raising spatial considerations of the WCT adoption decision and optimal diffusion patterns that can inform policymakers with the dual objectives of cost-efficient natural resource conservation and poverty alleviation, particularly in light of increasingly erratic weather patterns attributed to climate change. We focus on India—the world’s largest user of groundwater—and build a spatially sensitive hydroeconomic model to capture the dynamics of public water availability due to WCT adoption. We consider the spatial aspects of hydrological water flows, WCT adoption patterns, and public benefits of increased water access. We calibrate our model using a 2011 household-plot survey and estimates from a randomized control trial of a specific WCT in the country’s Gangetic Plains. Results show that early public benefits from WCTs occur primarily via reduced well interference when underground aquifers are large. Clustering of WCTs in this case can generate even higher benefits, suggesting localized spatial externalities of adoption. Policymakers interested in subsidizing or encouraging diffusion of key WCTs as a way to address both poverty alleviation and water conservation may thus consider both the private returns and public benefits presented here. |
| Keywords: | water, poverty, climate change, technology adoption, water use, economic development, natural resources, water conservation, groundwater, poverty alleviation, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1455&r=all |
| By: | Aldy, Joseph Edgar |
| Abstract: | Adaptation and geoengineering responses to climate change should be taken in account when estimating the social cost of carbon. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:hksfac:21150339&r=all |