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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2016‒06‒09
ninety-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Weber, Jeremy G.; Key, Nigel; O'Donoghue, Erik |
| Abstract: | Farmers dramatically increased their use of federal crop insurance in the 2000s. From 2000 to 2013, premium subsidies increased seven-fold and acres enrolled increased by 77 percent. Although designed for non-environmental goals, subsidized insurance may affect the use of land, fertilizer, and agrochemicals and therefore environmental externalities from agriculture. Using a novel panel data, we examine farmer responses to changes in coverage with an empirical approach that exploits program limits on coverage that were more binding for some farmers than for others. Estimates indicate that expanded coverage had little effect on the share of farmland harvested, crop specialization, productivity, or fertilizer and chemical use. More broadly, we construct and describe a new nation-wide, farm-level panel data set with nearly 32,500 farms observed at least twice over the 2000-2013 period, a resource that should enrich U.S. agro-environmental research. |
| Keywords: | Crop insurance, agriculture, environmental externalities, fertilizer |
| JEL: | Q12 Q15 Q18 |
| Date: | 2016–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71293&r=agr |
| By: | Nigatu, Getachew; Adjemian, Michael |
| Abstract: | The United States historically played a dominant role in global agricultural commodity trading, and therefore price formation, for major food, feed and fiber commodities. But the share of U.S. agricultural commodity export has recently declined, and international supply and demand fundamentals likely play a larger role in setting commodity prices. Using wavelet coherence methods, this paper examines the price discovery process between the U.S. and international prices for corn, soybean, and cotton. The wavelet analyses reveal that short-run (around 20 trading days) relationship between the U.S. and international prices is, in many cases, not stable. The two major agricultural commodity exporters, the US and Brazil, experience long-run relationships in corn and soybean prices. Unlike Japan, Chinese commodity prices share little or no relationship with the U.S. prices even though China is one of the biggest export market for the US. |
| Keywords: | agricultural commodity price, cointegration, price discovery, wavelet coherence analysis, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236045&r=agr |
| By: | Christopher Wada (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa); Kimberly Burnett (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa); Jason Gurdak (San Francisco State University) |
| Abstract: | The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is quickly becoming one of the most critical global environmental challenges of the twenty first century. However, WEF systems are inherently complex; they typically are dynamic and span multiple land or agro-ecosystems at a regional or global scale. Addressing this challenge requires a systems approach to optimal and sustainable resource management across multiple dimensions. To that end, using Pajaro Valley (California) as a case study, our research aims to (1) highlight synergies and tradeoffs in food and water production, (2) build a dynamic framework capable of examining intertemporal resource relationships, and (3) detail the steps required to develop incentive-compatible financing of the resulting management plans when benefits are not distributed uniformly across users. Using a stylized model, we find that in the long run, inland growers benefit from the halting of seawater intrusion (SWI) due to overpumping of groundwater. We also calculate that the water provided by the proposed College Lake Multi-Objective Management Program—a plan designed to halt SWI and support sustainable water and agricultural development in the region—will generate net revenue of $40-58 million per year, compared to an annualized cost of less than $3 million. An equal cost-sharing plan would be desirable if the benefit of the project exceeded $1,268 per year for each well owner. Since this may not necessarily be the case for smaller well owners, one possible alternative is to allocate costs in proportion to expected benefits for each user. |
| Keywords: | water-energy-food nexus, sustainable agriculture, groundwater management, saltwater intrusion, cost-benefit analysis, Pajaro Valley |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2016-6&r=agr |
| By: | Knisley, Shelbi R. |
| Abstract: | Changes in Southern Cotton and Peanut Producing Regions Relevance of the Topic Texas and Georgia are the major cotton and peanut producing states. These two crops compete for the same crop land, where peanuts usually rotate with cotton on a 3-4 year cycle (Texas Peanut Producers). The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 shaped current farm policy, specifically enacted major changes to federal peanut policy. Prior to the 2002 farm bill, price supports and a quota system limited production, which elevated farm prices and supported farm income for peanuts (Shields, 2015). The 2002 policy allowed peanuts to follow the same policies as other program crops, where farm payments were made when the prices or crop revenue dropped below the guaranteed level (Shields, 2015). The Agricultural Act of 2014 introduced addition modifications to peanut farm policy. Produces are eligible to receive payments through either the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC), but most producers chose to enroll in PLC. PLC payments depend on reference prices potentially making peanuts more attractive to plant than other covered crops, such as cotton. U.S. cotton production has been declining since its peak in the mid-2000s. This declining trend may be due to changes in farm policy, substitute products such as polyester, or changes in markets for substitute crops. In response to the WTO case between the U.S. and Brazil, The Agricultural Act of 2014 excluded cotton as a covered crop under both PLC and ARC, unless growers reallocated base acres—other than generic base (former cotton) acres—using a one-time option based on 2009-2012 plantings. Cotton producers also have the option for enrollment in Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX), which is under Title XI: Crop Insurance of the 2014 farm bill. Currently cotton producers are requesting that cottonseed be considered as an “other oilseed” to offer assistance to the low cotton prices. Data and Methods Descriptive and graphical analysis of data focuses on USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) yearly production, market and price data. Prices received by farmers are in nominal prices. The objectives of this research are to: 1) Describe current market trends in the U.S. cotton and peanut industries 2) Identify recent changes in farm policy for cotton and peanuts and 3) Discuss possible reasons for changes in production of both cotton and peanuts. Potential for Generating Discussion This analysis is presented in poster format and will generate substantial discussion between AAEA members. The visuals and results are interpreted through visual graphics of comparison between market trends and changing farm policies. Analytical reasoning and commodity market information provide explanations for potential changes in these commodity markets. References Farm Journal- Ag Web. Flood of Chinese Cotton Sends Prices Tumbling Most in Six Weeks. April 15, 2016. http://www.agweb.com/mobile/article/flood-of-chinese-cotton-sends -prices-tumbling-most-in-six-weeks-blmg/. Date Accessed: April 18, 2016. Shields, Dennis A. U.S. Peanut Program and Issues. Congressional Research Service. August 2015. Date Accessed: January 14, 2016. United States Department of Agricultural- Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS). Ash, Mark. Oil Crops Outlook. July 15, 2013. Date Accessed: April 19, 2016. United States Department of Agriculture- Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA). Base Acre Reallocation, Yield Updates, Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Lose Coverage (PLC). 2014 Farm Bill Fact Sheet. September 2014. Date Accessed: January 14, 2016. United States Department of Agriculture- Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS). GATS database. United States Department of Agriculture- Risk Management Agency (USDA-RMA). Stacked Income Production Plan (STAX) for Upland Cotton. RMA Fact Sheet. August 2014. Date Accessed: December 18, 2015. United States Department of Agriculture- National Agricultural Statistical Service (USDA NASS). Quick Stats. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, agricultural economics, economics, cotton, peanuts, southern, Texas, Georgia, farm policy, Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, 2002 farm bill, Agricultural Act of 2014, 2014 farm bill, commodity market, PLC, ARC, STAX, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Marketing, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235431&r=agr |
| By: | Ferrier, Peyton; Zhen, Chen; Bovay, John |
| Abstract: | The Produce Rules of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) marked the first instance of the FDA directly regulating food safety activities at the farm-level. Since most fruits and vegetables were covered, the law’s comprehensive ‘across-the-board’ implementation potentially created offsetting cross-price effects on the demand side since most producers would be bearing the implementation costs simultaneously. However, the fixed costs nature of some other regulations costs, the different distribution of farm sizes across commodities and the potential for some commodities to be exempted suggest that the effects would vary across commodities. We present an Equilibrium Displacement Model (EDM) to consider the effect of FSMA costs on prices and consumer and producer welfare. To parameterize the model, we use National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data to calculate the cost of implementing FSMA rules for 18 fruits and 21 vegetables, IRI storescan data to estimate demand elasticities, Agricultural Marketing Service data to calculate data wholesale costs shares, and supply elasticities from extant sources While varying across commodities, the average cost of implementing FSMA is 2.79 percent of farm revenue for fruits and 1.52 percent of farm revenue for vegetables, that farm prices increase by 1.68 percent (fruit) and 0.44 percent (vegetables), and that consumer prices increase by 0.70 percent (fruit) and 0.12 percent (vegetables). If there is no corresponding demand effect or cost saving at the farm level associated with the implementation of these regulations, farm welfare, as a percentage of revenue, falls by 1.11 percent (fruit) and 0.96 percent (vegetables). Also, we found that weak substitution patterns between commodities at the retail level caused off-setting cross-price effects to be weak. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235425&r=agr |
| By: | Zhang, Man; Jin, Yanhong; Zheng, Fengtian |
| Abstract: | Food safety receives an escalating attention since the 2008 milk scandal in China. Chinese government faces a great challenge to safeguard the safety of food supply chain due to the significant fermentation of producers and weak institutional resources to monitor and enforce food safety standards. Chinese farm households often practice two separate production systems for the same crop for the market and self-consumption separately and, thus the so called “One Farm Household, Two Production Systems” (OFH-TPS) gain the popularity in the recent years. This study provides both a theoretical framework to model the OFH-TPS decision and an empirical analysis to identify factors affecting the OFH-TPS decision using household survey data. We find that information asymmetry of product quality and measures to reduce the asymmetry such as product inspections and certifications play an important role in the OFH-TPS decision. In particular, product inspections conducted by industry associations, agricultural cooperatives, or farmer themselves curb the adoption of the TFH-TPS, whereas government inspection has no statistically significant effect. Farmers who sell green foods are less likely but organic farmers are more likely to adopt the OFH-TPS, which echoes the expectation based on the theoretical model. We also find that training of pesticide applications reduce the adoption of the OFH-TPS, but the perceived adverse effects of pesticide applications have no statistical effects. Furthermore, farmers who uses highly toxic and banned pesticides and/or who perceive poor food safety of the local markets are more likely to adopt the OFH-TPS. This study provides rich policy implications. First, calling the engagement of private sector to safeguard food safety and improving the efficacy of government inspection are critical to improve food safety. Second, education on pesticide applications is critical, especially among retailers of pesticides. |
| Keywords: | food safety, “one household, two production systems”, non-separable model, inspection, certification, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235959&r=agr |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines dynamic patterns of land use, capital investments and wages in agriculture using farm panel data from Indonesia. The empirical analysis shows that with an increase in real wages that prevailed in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in rural areas, relatively larger farmers increased the size of operational farm land by renting in land. An increase in real wages has induced the substitution of labor by machines among relatively large farmers. Machines and land are complementary and, consistently, the inverse land-productivity relationship is reversed among relatively large holders. |
| Keywords: | Wage growth, farm size, mechanization, Indonesia, Agribusiness, Land Economics/Use, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, J31, Q12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212723&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, Haoluan; Qiu, Feng |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the agricultural land abandonment and agricultural land expansion in the case of the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor, Canada. Using remote sensing data from 2000 to 2012, we include environmental and socio-economic factors to explore the drivers of land use conversions between agriculture and natural land. This research also adopts spatial techniques to allow for spatial effects from neighboring areas’ land-use activities. Key results from this study include: (1) higher land suitability for agriculture is negatively associated with agricultural land abandonment; (2) road density contributes to land use conversions between agriculture and natural land; and (3) land-use activities and decisions have strong spatial effects on neighboring regions, and the incorporation of spatial interactions can result in less biased results. In addition, an investigation of bidirectional land transitions helps in better understanding the associated gains and losses of agriculture and natural land. |
| Keywords: | agricultural land abandonment, agricultural land expansion, spatial effect, spatial regression model, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235468&r=agr |
| By: | Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob; Mason, Nicole; Chamberlin, Jordan |
| Abstract: | Informal land markets, particularly land rental markets, are emerging rapidly in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Land rental markets have the potential to contribute to structural transformation if, for example, such markets facilitate the transfer of land from less productive to more productive farming households. Although there is a growing literature on the determinants of smallholder farm households’ decisions to participate in land rental markets, relatively little is known about the factors driving land rental prices in SSA. This study aims to fill that gap using panel data from Malawi to estimate the effects of various plot-level characteristics and economic variables on plot-level land rental prices. Of particular interest is the effect of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) on land rental prices, as evidence from the US suggests that part of the value of agricultural subsidies is often capitalized in land rental prices. Our results suggest that FISP has no substantive effect on land rental prices, perhaps because FISP’s effects on maize productivity have been modest. Expected crop prices, soil quality, and market access are more important determinants of land rental prices in Malawi; increases in these variables are associated with higher average rental prices, ceteris paribus. |
| Keywords: | land rental markets, rental prices, structural transformation, input subsidy programs, Malawi, sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, D63, O12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235819&r=agr |
| By: | Badau, Flavius; Rada, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | We use an innovative approach to predict agricultural revenues had farmers optimally reallocated production among agricultural commodities in order to minimize inefficiency. To that end, we employ a newly constructed 1980-2008 state-level production account of Indian agriculture, a directional distance frontier specification, and an innovative output-reallocation predictive model to test whether India’s farmers have achieved maximum potential revenues from their choice of agricultural commodity mix given the various policy, environmental, and input supply constraints. The results show substantial levels of technical inefficiency in Indian agriculture (18%). The output reallocation model predicts that Indian agricultural revenues could have been 22 % higher had farmers optimally shifted their agricultural commodity mix in order to minimize inefficiency. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, efficiency, directional distance function, production, shadow prices, optimal reallocation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235622&r=agr |
| By: | Lee, Youngjae; Kennedy, Lynn |
| Abstract: | This study shows how cyclical risk and collective trade policy actions can cumulatively worsen international food price spikes. By using spatial Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) and Eaton and Kortum’s trade model, this study offers the following conclusions. At first, the cyclical shock in agricultural production might cause agricultural and food price spikes in the international agricultural and food markets. Second, export restrictions and import responses can worsen food price spikes and disrupt trade flows in international agricultural and food markets. Finally, the effect of these collective trade policy actions and resulting food price spikes in international agricultural and food markets do not dissipate even after agricultural production has recovered. |
| Keywords: | collective trade policy actions, cyclical risk, export restriction., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Productivity Analysis, F10, F13, F14, F18, O19, Q17, Q54., |
| Date: | 2016–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235430&r=agr |
| By: | Levente Timar (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | I use simulations from the Land Use in Rural New Zealand model to consider mitigation for different classes of sheep-beef farms under climate policy. Farmers in the model can respond to carbon prices by abandoning or afforesting marginal land. In assessing carbon credits against liabilities, I consider only the income a farmer would be able to get with certainty without taking a carbon price risk. Farmers in intensive farm classes tend to bear the costs of emissions because their opportunity cost of exiting pastoral agriculture is high. The dominant land-use response in more extensive systems is land abandonment or afforestation, depending on location. Less profitable farm classes generally face higher average liabilities in relation to profits, both before and after the land-use response. Results indicate that farmers in North Island hill country may benefit most from afforestation opportunities. In this farm class, income from rewards could offset over half of farmers’ emission liabilities. |
| Keywords: | Climate change policy, sheep-beef farming, farm classes, mitigation, cost distribution |
| JEL: | Q52 Q54 Q58 R14 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:16_09&r=agr |
| By: | Sauer, Christine M.; Mason, Nicole M.; Maredia, Mywish K.; Mofya-Mukukua, Rhoda |
| Abstract: | Despite the many potential benefits of legume cultivation, there is scarce empirical evidence on the effects of improved legume technologies on household food security and nutrition. This paper begins to fill that knowledge gap by empirically estimating the effects of adoption of cereal-legume intercropping and cereal-legume rotation on indicators of food security and nutrition for smallholder farm households in Zambia. The results indicate that cereal-legume rotation is positively and statistically significantly associated with household dietary diversity, months of adequate household food provisioning, and calorie and protein production, but is significantly negatively correlated with net crop income. In contrast, we find little evidence of statistically significant cereal-legume intercropping effects on the food security and nutrition status of Zambian smallholder farm households. |
| Keywords: | legume intercropping, legume rotation, nutrition, food security, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236062&r=agr |
| By: | Ogundari, Kolawole; Awokuse, Titus |
| Abstract: | The study investigates the effect of agricultural productivity on different food security measures in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We identify food security indicators with per capita total food available in tonnes and per capita nutrient supply (e.g., calories and proteins), while agricultural–value-added per hectare and cereal production per hectare are taken as measures of agricultural productivity in the study. Using a panel data covering 41 countries from 1980-2009, we employ both the dynamic and linear models. The empirical results from both models show that an increase in agricultural productivity contributes positively and significantly to all measures of food security considered in the study. Thus suggesting that the key to improving food security is by boosting the current level of agricultural productivity growth in SSA. Accordingly, we contend that policies geared toward increasing government investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) would likely raise agricultural productivity and subsequently food security levels in the region. |
| Keywords: | agricultural productivity, food security, cross-country, sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, C01, C23, O11, O13, O4, O55, |
| Date: | 2016–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235730&r=agr |
| By: | Chakrabarti, Suman; Avinash, Kishore; Devesh, Roy |
| Abstract: | Abstract There is an increasing demand to add pulses to the basket of subsidized goods in the public distribution system (PDS) of India—the world’s largest food-based social safety-net program. Would subsidizing pulses through PDS lead to a significant increase in its consumption? We study the case of subsidy on pulses in select Indian states and its impact on consumption and ultimately nutrition (in terms of protein intake) by exploiting an exogenous variation in prices to answer this question. Between 2004–2005 and 2009/2010, four Indian states introduced subsidized pulses through the country’s food-based social safety-net program, the Public Distribution System (PDS), while other states did not. We exploit exogenous price variations to examine whether the price subsidy on pulses achieves its goal of increasing pulse consumption, and by extension protein intake, among India’s poor. Using several rounds of consumption expenditure survey data and difference-in-difference estimation, we find that the change in consumption of pulses due to the PDS subsidy, though statistically significant, is of a small order, and not large enough to meet the goal of enhancing the nutrition of beneficiaries. |
| Keywords: | Food Subsidy, Pulses, Public Distribution System, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235649&r=agr |
| By: | Venus, Thomas J.; Drabik, Dusan |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyze the interaction effects of labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the EU biodiesel market. On the one hand, the EU biofuel mandate reduces the area available for food cultivation. On the other hand, strict GMO regulations hamper the use of GM crops in EU Member States. Our motivation comes from the present political discussion of how to regulate a number of new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) in the European Union. In case the European Commission considers NPBTs as conventional breeding technique, several agricultural markets will be affected differently than when NPBTs fall under the scope of the genetically modified organism (GMO) regulation. This regulation decision affects labeling (and hence marketing) of NPBTs. We simulate the introduction of oilseed plants produced from NPBTs on the biodiesel market. We assume that rapeseed from NPBTs are more productive than conventional breeding techniques. We consider the case of rapeseed to show the implications of GM labeling on a crop that can be used for food, feed, and fuel. Rapeseed oil obtained from crushing rapeseed can be used for human or biofuel consumption while the byproduct rapeseed extraction meal (henceforth: meal) is mainly used as protein feed for animals (e.g., cows and cattle). We develop a theoretical model that links prices of rapeseed as well as rapeseed oil and meal, and also links the quantities through supply of oil and meal and demand for oil, meal, and biodiesel. Our preliminary results show that regulating NPBTs under the GM regulation reduces the inflationary effects on food prices of the biofuel policy. However, this reduced price effect is not for free. By comparing the welfare effects of the three scenarios, we show which consumers and producers benefit and loose from the GMO policy decision. |
| Keywords: | genetically modified organisms, biofuel policies, biodiesel, New Plant Breding Technology, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236283&r=agr |
| By: | Bhagowalia, Priya; Chandna, Arjita |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to assess if provision of subsidized food via India’s largest safety net, the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), has improved calorie availability in dry land areas of India. Changes in relative prices may increase calorie intakes from the subsidized commodities, or induce a substitution away from inexpensive and calorie rich foods to more expensive foods. We use ICRISAT data from 2010-2012 to examine the impact of rice & wheat subsidies on calorie availability and compare it with equivalent increases in income from any other source. Our results suggest that food subsidies have a modest but positive impact on calorie intakes of households, but these differ by income group. Due to the subsidy, households increase calories from both subsidized and expensive sources of calories viz. meat, sugar and oils. Crop production affects calorie availability. We also find that that the in-kind transfer seems to be less effective than equivalent increases in income |
| Keywords: | Food Subsidy, nutrition, calorie, ICRISAT, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235760&r=agr |
| By: | Tsusaka, Takuji W.; Orr, Alastair; Msere, Harry W.; Homann-KeeTui, Sabine; Maimisa, Penias; Twanje, Gift H.; Botha, Rosemary |
| Abstract: | It is widely believed that commercialization and mechanization of food crops lead to disempowering women as men take over control from women. We argue that women are not necessarily discontent in the face of the agrarian transformation. By collecting sex-disaggregated panel data and applying a ‘women’s crop tool’, we analyze and rethink the implication of agricultural commercialization for intra-household gender relation among smallholder farmers through research on groundnut producers in southern Africa, where groundnut is largely regarded as a ‘women’s crop’. In addition to examining the effect of commercialization in Zambia and Malawi, small-scale post-harvest mechanization was provided experimentally to selected farmers in Zambia. The panel regression results show that commercialization did not lead to disempowering women in either country, which is consistent with the qualitative discussions with farmers held before the baseline surveys. Furthermore, by combining PSM and DID methods, it was found that machine shelling did not disempower women farmers either. The finding provides insights into how gender relation among smallholders is affected at the initial stage of commercialization and mechanization of ‘women’s crops’. |
| Keywords: | gender, women, commercialization, mechanization, groundnut, Zambia, Malawi, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, J16, O13, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235885&r=agr |
| By: | Darrouzet-Nardi, Amelia; Miller, Laurie; Joshi, Neena; Mahato, Shubh; Lohani, Mahendra; Drozdowsky, Julia; Beatrice, Rogers |
| Abstract: | Inadequate child dietary quality is a problem of public health significance in rural Nepal. This study explores whether and how dietary patterns within households changed over a four-year time period with the introduction of a randomized community development intervention in rural Nepal. Individual-level dietary data within households is rarely observed over extended periods of time, which limits our understanding of within-household food distribution dynamics, especially in the context of impact evaluations. Six rural communities of Nepal with predominantly agricultural livelihoods were selected to participate in the phased implementation of a long-term community-level development intervention. Households (N=414 at baseline) and children (N=951 at baseline) in each community were surveyed at baseline; and the 116-item follow-up surveys were implemented at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, and 48 months. Detailed data on food consumption were collected at the household-level and for individual children older than 6 months of age using a 24 hour recall for 17 foods and food groups; parents responded for children. Child-level dietary diversity and consumption of animal sourced foods were the outcomes of interest. Fixed-effects analysis of the resulting panel data indicates that there are disparities in the responsiveness of child dietary quality with respect to household dietary quality, as measured by elasticities. Results indicate that there are no differences in the responsiveness of child dietary quality to household dietary quality between girl and boy children, but there are measurable disparities in dietary quality responsiveness across age groups of children and across regions of Nepal. As the length of time of exposure to the community development intervention increased, so did the responsiveness of child dietary quality to household dietary quality, as measured by elasticities. This pattern holds during both times of household stress and times of household prosperity, as indicated by the household-level dietary diversity differenced from the mean across all six time periods. The long-term, community-level development of rural women’s groups may have increased women’s status in the study sites and resulted in the improved diets for children, but measurement of women’s status over time is necessary to test that hypothesis. These results stress the importance of measuring and addressing intrahousehold dynamics – in particular across age cohorts – during community development projects, and caution against assuming the presence of sex bias in the distribution of foods within households. |
| Keywords: | child dietary diversity, smallholder farms, intrahousehold dynamics, impact evaluation, Nepal, community based interventions, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health, education, and welfare, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235536&r=agr |
| By: | Bro, Aniseh S.; Ortega, David; Clay, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Coffee has long been known as a commodity product with a large “footprint” in poor, often mountainous countries in the tropics, and as a leading source of economic growth for many of them. On a global scale it is recognized as the second most traded commodity, after oil (Ponte, 2002). Today, the suitability of the coffee growing regions is compromised due to the impacts of climate change and exacerbated due to the intensification of agricultural practices, which is a result of higher global demand for coffee and increasingly competitive markets. In Latin America, coffee is the main source of income for more than 1 million farmers. Nicaragua alone has 48,000 farmers, 80% of which are small-scale coffee producers (Valkila, 2009). Additionally, Nicaragua is one of the countries in Mesoamerica that will be the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, and all eyes are drawn to the Matagalpa coffee-growing region where the challenges facing coffee producers are known to be especially daunting (Laderach et al., 2011). How farmers there will respond to a potential 40-60% loss of agro-climatic suitability driven by a predicted 2.2ºC temperature increase and a 130mm decline in precipitation by 2050 (Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2015) is the focus of much consternation and debate among industry, policy and scientific circles (Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2015; Baca et al., 2014; Laderach et al., 2013) In light of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change in Nicaragua’s coffee sector, understanding the incentives of farmers to adopt new production and processing technologies that will help them build adaptive capacity to these impacts is crucial to their future sustainability. Institutions need this knowledge if they wish to allocate their resources efficiently while ensuring rapid uptake of the new technologies (Marshall et al., 1997). The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine farmers’ preferences for different coffee production strategies and to explore the heterogeneity of these preferences using primary data from Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The results will be used to analyze how the coffee sector in Nicaragua can build adaptive capacity to climate change. We hypothesize that farmers who belong to cooperatives are likely to make significantly different coffee production decisions than those who do not. The empirical methodology of this study is based on experimental choice modeling methods to analyze farmers’ preferences for different coffee production strategies among a series of alternatives. Choice experiments require respondents to state their choice over set of alternatives. These alternatives are described by different attributes and responses are used to infer the value of each attribute. The theoretical background of choice experiments is based on random utility theory, and relies on the assumptions of economic rationality and Lancastrian utility maximization. In other words, by stating a preference, individuals are assumed to have chosen the alternative that will yield the highest utility to them. In our choice experiments, the alternatives that farmers were presented with comprised of varying levels of key attributes that were identified as important characteristics that influence a farmer’s decision to produce and invest in coffee. These attributes are: price of coffee cherry (4 price levels expressed in percentages), access to inputs through subsidies (no input subsidies, subsidies for pesticides only, subsidies for fertilizers only, and subsidies for both fertilizers and pesticides), access to extension services (yes/no), labor requirements (high/low), coffee variety richness (one variety, two varieties), and crop species richness (sole coffee, coffee plus 1 crop, coffee plus 2 crops, coffee plus 3 crops). Farmers had the option of opting out of the choices presented to them and produce in the same way as they usually produce. The data used in this study are derived from 237 household surveys conducted in the department of Matagalpa between June and July 2015. Households were selected using a two stage stratified random selection strategy. The stratification was based on level of vulnerability to climate change. Household and farm specific information was collected through these surveys and used in conjunction with the choice experiment data. These data included: demographic and socio-economic information, coffee production practices, cooperative membership information, and experiences with negative shocks, such as floods, droughts, and other climatic events. Preliminary results from a random parameters model show that coffee producers value subsidized access to fertilizers only and to fertilizers and pesticides together to an equivalent of 8.1% and 25.1% of their total income from coffee, respectively, and that they value access to on-farm extension services to an equivalent of 12.5% of their total income from coffee. These producers, however, would have to receive a premium equivalent to 16% of their total income from coffee in order to accept subsidized pesticides, this is likely a reflection of the recently devastating effect of the leaf rust disease in coffee in Central America, and the inadequate response that farmers received from institutions, in the form of pesticides, to combat the pest. Finally, farmers would have to receive a premium equivalent to 4.2% of their total income from coffee in order to diversify their coffee plantations with other crops (or equivalently, an average of 3,714.72 Nicaraguan Córdobas). The livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of coffee producers around the world are at risk due to the threat of climate change on the suitability of coffee producing regions. This study provides important insights on how coffee producers in Nicaragua value key attributes related to coffee production which enables us to make recommendations on possible policy paths that can help farmers transition to practices that will help them build adaptive capacity to these changes. References Baca, María, Peter Läderach, Jeremy Haggar, Götz Schroth, and Oriana Ovalle. "An integrated framework for assessing vulnerability to climate change and developing adaptation strategies for coffee growing families in Mesoamerica." PloS one 9, no. 2 (2014): e88463. Laderach, Peter, Mark Lundy, Andy Jarvis, Julian Ramirez, Emiliano Perez Portilla, Kathleen Schepp, and Anton Eitzinger. "Predicted impact of climate change on coffee supply chains." In The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change, pp. 703-723. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011. Ovalle-Rivera, Oriana, Peter Läderach, Christian Bunn, Michael Obersteiner, and Götz Schroth. "Projected Shifts in Coffea arabica Suitability among Major Global Producing Regions Due to Climate Change." (2015): e0124155. |
| Keywords: | climate change, sustainability, coffee, choice experiments, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235729&r=agr |
| By: | Mark, Senia; Senarath, Dharmasena |
| Abstract: | The 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that individuals consume around 25 grams of dietary fiber per person per day. Yet despite these recommendations, consumers do not purchase enough foods high in dietary fiber. To investigate the factors behind this behavior, we use the Nielsen Homescan data to create a quarterly panel from 2004 through 2014 of 9,896 households from across the United States. This research contributes to the literature by simultaneously investigating per capita purchases of products containing fiber: (1) bread (2) pasta, (3) tortilla, (4) fresh fruit, (5) fresh vegetables and beans, (6) frozen fruit, (7) frozen vegetables and beans, (8) canned fruit, (9) canned vegetables and beans. We perform the estimation using a random effects panel Tobit model in order to account for the censored nature of the available data. Preliminary results suggest that those with a higher income or education report more consumption of fiber from fresh and frozen vegetables and less from pasta. Those living below 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level do not seem to purchase significantly less fiber per capita relative to those above these poverty levels. A test of the effectiveness of fiber consumption promotion in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines seems to show mixed results |
| Keywords: | Dietary fiber, fiber consumption, Nielsen Homescan Panel, USDA Dietary Guidelines, Panel Tobit, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D12, I18, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235757&r=agr |
| By: | Ernesto Clar; Miguel Martín-Retortillo; Vicente Pinilla |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to determine whether the Spanish path of agrarian change, between 1950 and 2005, exhibits some features important enough to differentiate it from the common model of developed countries in Western Europe. On the one hand, the Spanish agrarian transformations share the main features which took place in Western Europe: technological innovation, increased production and productivity, loss of importance of the agricultural sector, tight integration with the industrial sector and, finally its high impact on the environment. On the other hand, a series of important peculiarities can be observed in the Spanish agrarian change: strong expansion of intensive livestock farming; importance of increased irrigation to explain the transformation of agriculture; policies that offered very little support to the agricultural sector under a dictatorship that denied a voice to farmers; maintaining a very prominent role in the economy despite its small contribution to GDP. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural change, European agriculture, Agricultural policies, European economic history |
| JEL: | N54 O13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:seh:wpaper:1602&r=agr |
| By: | Hou, Lingling; Hoag, Dana; Keske, Catherine |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the shadow price of CO2 from burning crop residue in the Chinese agricultural sector and explores the policy implications for decision makers. Using a parametric translog directional distance function, we evaluate the technical efficiency and shadow prices of CO2 reduction for 7 major maize provinces in China from 1996-2013. Our results show that crop yield, cost of total inputs, and percentage of burnt crop residue account for 30%, 10% and 20% of the inefficiency, respectively. The shadow price of CO2 from burning crop residue is estimated to range from 0-1.368 yuan/ha (or US$210.5/t) with an average of 0.496yuan/kg (or US$76/t). Further analysis indicates that the average efficiency will increase by 9% if conservation practices are adopted by assuming 10% decrease in yield and 50% decrease in burnt crop residue under conservation practices compared to conventional practices. The shadow prices in these two cases imply that the whole society will benefit if the government spends less than 201 yuan/ha to promote adoption of conservation practices. This government offset would compensate farmers for yield reductions in favor of implementing conservation practices that would substantially reduce CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | shadow prices, greenhouse gases, conservation tillage, distance function, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235742&r=agr |
| By: | Frick, Fabian; Sauer, Johannes |
| Abstract: | We investigate development of productivity and its relation to resource reallocation effects in the dairy sector in South-East Germany during the phase-out of the EU milk quota. We use a dataset containing dairy farm accounting data of 15 years. Farm-level productivity is estimated by applying a proxy approach recently discussed in the literature and compared to other estimation approaches and an index analysis. After aggregation we decompose sector productivity into unweighted mean productivity and a covariance term quantifying the allocation of production resources towards more productive farms. We observe an increase in the covariance term coinciding with a period of rather volatile milk prices. Therefore, we hypothesize that reallocation of production resources are triggered by extreme prices possibly powered by market deregulation. We seek to find support for this hypothesis in a regression analysis linking the covariance term and price variability. In this analysis we find some evidence for our hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Dairy Farms, Total Factor Productivity, Sector Productivity, EU Milk Quota, Deregulation, Resource Reallocation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, Q12, Q18, O47, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236032&r=agr |
| By: | Cochrane, Nancy |
| Abstract: | This research was aimed at constructing a nutritionally balanced food basket for Zanzibar (an autonomous region of Tanzania) that relies on traditional foods and is affordable. Using household survey data the author constructed a representative food basket that provides an average daily intake of 2150 calories. The resulting basket is deficient in sever critical nutrients. Adjusting calorie shares of the foods in the basket resulted in a more balanced diet, but the new basket is higher cost and remains deficient in calcium and other minerals. |
| Keywords: | Zanzibar, Tanzania, household food security, food consumption, food access, nutrition., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235662&r=agr |
| By: | Arora, Gaurav; Feng, Hongli; Hennessy, David A.; Anderson, Christopher J. |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the regional-level agricultural impacts of climate change in the Northern Great Plains. We first estimate a non-linear yield-weather relationship for all major commodities in the area: corn, soybeans, spring wheat and alfalfa. We separately identify benevolent and harmful temperature thresholds for each commodity, and control for severe-to-extreme dry/wet conditions in our yield models. Analyzing all major commodities in a region extends the existing literature beyond just one crop, most typically corn yields. Alfalfa is particularly interesting since it is a legume-crop that is substitutable with grasses as animal feed and rotated with other row-crops for nitrogen-fixation of soils. Our model includes trend-weather and soil-weather interaction terms that extend the existing yield-weather models in the literature. Results suggest that temporal adaptations have not mitigated the negative impacts of weather stressors in the past, and that the spatial soil profile only weakly influences weather impacts on crop yields. We estimate yield-weather elasticities and find that historical weather patterns in the region have benefited corn and soybeans (spring wheat) the most (least). We expand our analysis to formally evaluate the role of short-run weather fluctuations in determining land-use decisions. We utilize decomposed crop yield estimates due to trend and weather in order to model crop acreage shares. Our preliminary results suggest that short-run weather fluctuations are an important factor for decisions on soybeans and spring wheat shares, however only yield trends drive corn shares. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Grassland conversion, Statistical yield model, weather and soil interaction, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Q1, Q5, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235895&r=agr |
| By: | Ahmed, Mansur; Goodwin, Barry |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of adoption of agricultural mechanization on the non-farm labor supply behavior of farm households using a longitudinal data set from Bangladesh. The paper uses an agricultural household model to establish the link between the labor-saving technology adoption decision and the non-farm labor supply behavior. To control for potential endogeneity between the farm mechanization and the non-farm labor supply behavior; we use bivariate probit model (BPM), endogenous switching probit model (SPM) and endogenous treatment effects (ETE) model. The results confirm that labor-saving technology adoption raises both the probability of participation in the rural non-farm sector and the labor-supply to the rural non-farm sector. The average treatment effects (ATE) on the probability of participation in the rural non-farm sector are 0.30 in the BPM and 0.21 in the SPM. The results from the ETE model also confirm that the farm households double their labor supply in the rural non-farm sector, given the adoption of labor-saving technology. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Mechanization, Farm Households, Non-Farm Labor Supply, Farm Management, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, J22, Q12, Q16, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236131&r=agr |
| By: | Valdes, Constanza; Hjort, Kim; Seeley, Ralph |
| Abstract: | Brazil has attained remarkable economic progress over the past decade with parallel modernization and expansion of its agricultural sector. With continuing productivity increases and the availability of additional land suitable for farming, further growth in agricultural production and exports has become the norm. However, current domestic macroeconomic challenges, including slow income growth, a depreciating Real, and administered prices to control inflation, are further challenged by adverse external events, including the substantial depreciation of China’s currency on prospects for soybean and beef exports. This confluence of domestic and foreign economic challenges will negatively impact the agricultural sector’s ability to continue the pace of its projected growth and may significantly slow export expansion. If that should happen, world food prices may rise unless other world market suppliers such as the United States can fill the deficit. We evaluate the impact of these new developments and associated challenges on Brazil’s agricultural sector and examine the response of production, trade, and market prices to changes in Brazil’s macroeconomic situation. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, agriculture, production, trade, exchange rate, devaluation, credit, interest rates, domestic support., Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236207&r=agr |
| By: | Bauman, Allison; Jablonski, Becca B.R.; Thilmany McFadden, Dawn |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the growth in local food marketing channels has been significant. Most of the research in this field examining the economic implication of these trends has focused post-farmgate including supply chain analysis (e.g. Hardesty et al., 2014; King et al., 2010), regional economic impacts (e.g. Brown et al., 2014; Hughes et al., 2008; Jablonski et al., 2016), and consumer values and motivations that have driven demand (e.g. Costanigro, 2014; Lusk and Briggeman, 2009). To date, with the exception of a few case studies examining expenses and sales by channel assessment (LeRoux et al., 2010; Hardesty and Leff, 2010; Jablonski and Schmit 2016) there has been little research that examines the impact on financial viability among farms selling through these markets. The goal of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the factors that have the greatest influence on the efficiency of farmers and ranchers that participate in local food systems, and second, to estimate the relationship between marketing strategy and farm financial efficiency, with a particular focus on variations across farm size. Analyzing the technical efficiency of local food system participants using stochastic frontier analysis, we find that variations across production specialty, market outlet, as well as share of expenses paid to taxes, and labor have the greatest influence on producer efficiency. Either participating in intermediated markets only or both direct-to-consumer and intermediated markets increases profitability compared to participating in direct-to-consumer markets only. At the same time gross cash farm income, an indication of scale, was not statistically significant even though past studies had found a significant relationship. Although scale largely influences choice of market outlet, these results suggest that market outlet has the largest influence on profitability, not scale. |
| Keywords: | Local foods, technical efficiency, farm profitability, Agricultural Finance, Productivity Analysis, Q14, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236057&r=agr |
| By: | Sharp, Misti; Manning, Dale; Hoag, Dana |
| Abstract: | Water resources in the arid west and other parts of the world are becomingly increasingly scarce as population growth and water quality impairment puts new demands on this limited resource. With those increasing demands comes an increasing urgency to conserve water and to consume the resource more efficiently throughout the myriad of uses. Indeed, much of the conservation pressure comes down to agriculture, as this sector is allocated as much as 80% of the water available in states like Colorado; water is often over-appropriated and yet population is projected to double by the year 2050. Complicating this resource management problem is a very complex institutional rights structure, which can vary from basin to basin. In this study, we use a dynamic programming approach to examine how agricultural producer technology adoption decisions with uncertain water supplies are influenced by existing water rights systems, including prior appropriation and the ubiquitous “Beneficial Use Doctrine.” We find that imperfect property rights and uncertainty over water availability decrease the incentive to adopt water-saving technology. |
| Keywords: | water, property rights, uncertainty, option value, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235963&r=agr |
| By: | Liu, Jing; Villoria, Nelson |
| Abstract: | An awareness is growing that Africa lacks profitable land despite its abundance in agriculture-suitable land. The key in assessing the availability of economically meaningful cropland is the responsiveness of cropland supply to land returns. Knowledge about this parameter at a fine-resolution is sparse due to unknown site-specific prices. Using gridded data from Sub-Saharan Africa and spatial econometric analysis, this paper quantifies the elasticities of cropland supply and land transformation. A computable general equilibrium model with these updated parameters is applied to study the much-debated land use change effect of agricultural innovation in Africa. We find that literature concerning land use in Africa has significantly overstated the ease of land transformation and masked its geographical disparity. Because of the low-land supply elasticities at current prices, barring major investments in market access, the effects of broad-based technological progress in agriculture are unlikely to incentivize major land expansion. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235505&r=agr |
| By: | Makoto Taniguchi (Research Department, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature); Naoki Masuhara (Research Department, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature); Kimberly Burnett (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa) |
| Abstract: | Security measures of three resources; water, energy and food are analysed for thirty two countries in the Asia Pacific region, in terms of amounts of the resource, self-production, and diversity of souces of each resource. We find that the Asia Pacific countries contain almost half of the world’s income and population, and are more self-sufficient in food production than the rest of the world, but are less self-sufficient in energy production. The self-production ratio of food within the Asia Pacific region has been decreasing since the 1960’s, though the ratio is still over 100 %. On the other hand, the self-production energy rate within the Asia-Pacific region increased from 82 % in the 1970’s up to 95 % in 2010. Diversity for all the three resources is also analyzed using surface water and groundwater for water sources; hydro power, geothermal power, solar, and biomass for energy; and cereals, vegetable, fruit, meat, and fish for food. We see high diversity of sources of water in the US and the Philippines, and a low diversity of sources of food in the US, Canada, and Indonesia. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2015-10&r=agr |
| By: | Ma, Xianlei; Heerink, Nico; van Ierlan, Ekko; Lang, Hairu; Shi, Xiaoping |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of actual and perceived land tenure security and trust on the leasing of land, using detailed household-level data collected in two different regions in China. Wirth regard to actual tenure security, we find that possession of land certificates increases the probability that a household rents in additional land, the size of the leased land, and the probability of using formal contracts; absence of land reallocations in recent years positively affects the likelihood of using informal contracts. Perceptions of tenure security matter for the land renting decisions of households with high actual tenure security. Higher perceived security positively affects the probability that a household rents in additional land as well as the size of the leased land. As regards trust, we find that higher kinship trust induces households to use informal contracts, while higher trust towards known people induces households to use formal contracts. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212219&r=agr |
| By: | Wood, Benjamin DK; Nelson, Carl N; Garduno, Rafael |
| Abstract: | With the continued instability in consumer food prices, questions abound regarding how food price shocks affect poverty in the developing world. Following up on Wood et al. (2012), this research uses repeated cross sectional Government of Mexico household surveys to test the longer term effects of food price shocks on household poverty status. Summary statistics for biennial surveys conducted in 2008 and 2010 provide an initial understanding of how households react to food price spikes. After calculating food demand systems for these years, we compare the importance of accounting for second order welfare effects during time of high and low food price increases. Assessing the accuracy of different measurement options will allow researchers to know which technique to use when assess the effect of future food price changes. |
| Keywords: | Mexico, food price, demand system, economic welfare, poverty, substitution, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235989&r=agr |
| By: | He-Lambert, Lixia; English, Burton C.; Lambert, Dayton M.; Clark, Christopher D.; Papanicolaou, Thanos |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the modeling framework used to determine the economic value of water for row crops using a partial equilibrium agricultural sector model designed for Tennessee and the Tennessee River Basin (TNAP). The objective of the paper is to outline a framework for determining water use by Tennessee’s agricultural sector, the relative value of water used by agriculture, and potential technology options for adapting to water scarcity with TNAP. The focus is on the major row crops produced in the region, specifically corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. Estimates of water availability are generated with predictive water balance models. Metrics for water use and demand are developed from three sources of data: a) primary and secondary farm-level data, b) regional economic-sectoral data, and c) cost-of-production data for crops commonly produced in the region. Shadow prices of water will be estimated by adjusting water quantities available for agricultural activities with the marginal productivity value of farm and non-farm activities. |
| Keywords: | agricultural water use, economic model, row crop production, Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235675&r=agr |
| By: | Wineman, Ayala; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Abstract: | Migration between rural locations is prevalent in many developing countries and has been found to improve economic well-being in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper explores the pathways through which intra-rural migration affects welfare in rural Tanzania. Specifically, we investigate whether such migration enables migrants to access more land, higher quality land, or greater off-farm income generating opportunities that may, in turn, translate into improved welfare. Drawing on a longitudinal data set that tracks migrants to their destinations, we employ a difference-in-differences approach, validated with a multinomial treatment effects model, and find that migration confers a benefit in consumption to migrants. Results do not indicate that this advantage is derived from larger farms, though intra-rural migrants to more densely populated areas do seem to achieve more productive farmland at their destinations. Across all destinations, migrants are more likely to draw from off-farm and non-farm income sources, suggesting that even intra-rural migration represents a shift away from agriculture, and this is likely the dominant channel through which migrants benefit. We conclude that intra-rural migration merits greater attention in the discourse on rural development and structural transformation. |
| Keywords: | internal migration, land access, poverty, rural nonfarm economy, Tanzania, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, G61, I32, O15, Q15, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235957&r=agr |
| By: | Cai, Yongyang; Golub, Alla A.; Hertel, Thomas W.; Judd, Kenneth L. |
| Abstract: | Since the 1950s, increased agricultural productivity has allowed food supply growth to outpace demand on a global scale, resulting in a downward trend in world prices. Investments into agricultural research and development (R&D) have been the foundation for this achievement, but there is a long lag in agricultural productivity response to the investments. The optimal path of R&D spending depends on future population, income and climate change, all of which are highly uncertain. This study offers a dynamic framework for analyzing optimal agricultural R&D spending in the 21st century factoring in uncertainties in these drivers, as well as lagged pay offs on investments into improvements of agricultural productivity. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural R&D policy, Total Factor Productivity, Robust decision making under uncertainty, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235981&r=agr |
| By: | Beatty, Timothy K.M. |
| Abstract: | The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutrition assistance program in the United States and is a vital part of the social safety net. The monthly lump-sum benefit distribution schedule has led to higher food expenditures and consumption shortly after the date of benefit receipt, and a diminishing food expenditures and associated food consumption pattern towards the end of the benefit month. This has been found to have adverse effects on beneficiaries' dietary outcomes. In this paper, we investigate food purchasing patterns of SNAP households over the month using data from the National Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), a newly developed nationally representative survey, and its geographic component. We ask the research question: do SNAP recipients pay more for otherwise similar food at the beginning of the benefit cycle, and substitute less costly food as the month proceeds? We found that the unit cost of food bought declines significantly over the benefit cycle when households make purchases using SNAP benefits. Our results shed light on the optimal policy design of food assistance programs through a better understanding of program participants' food-purchasing behavior. |
| Keywords: | SNAP, Benefit Cycle, Food Price, Agricultural and Food Policy, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236012&r=agr |
| By: | Plastina, Alejandro; Liu, Fangge |
| Abstract: | Row crop farming in the Midwest has been increasingly singled out as a major non-point source of nitrate pollution in waterways, putting pressure on farmers to adopt conservation practices. One of the promising conservation practices is cover crop, which is known to promote many aspects of soil and water sustainability. However, adoption of cover crops is very low in the Midwest. Farmers’ perceptions that cover crops are costly was found to be the major barrier to their adoption, as well as lack of familiarity with novel approaches. As the first stage of a larger project funded by the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, this study aims to improve the understanding of the changes cover crop brings to farm operations through focus group discussions with experienced cover crop farmers, and to provide partial budgets for cover crops under alternative scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Cover Crops, Partial Budgets, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235857&r=agr |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Vardges; Bozic, Marin |
| Abstract: | This study utilizes unique product barcode, store, and retail real estate data to calculate consistent estimates of the effects of retail market structure on food prices in the US. Our uniquely disaggregated data allow for identification strategy that corrects for the type of endogeneity that plagues many previous studies on price-concentration relationship. Empirical findings from an instrumental-variables fixed-effects model indicate that retail concentration is endogenous to price determination. Further, retail prices are found to rise with retail concentration. Importantly, ignoring endogeneity results in a severe downward bias in the estimated effects of concentration on food prices. |
| Keywords: | Retail concentration, retail food price, endogeneity of retail concentration, instrumental variables fixed-effects regression, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization, L11, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236222&r=agr |
| By: | zheng, Yanan.Jr; Qiu, Feng.Jr |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the linkages among farm, wholesale and retail markets along the U.S. pork supply chain by analyzing their price transmissions and volatility spillovers. Data used in the analysis include monthly farm, wholesale and retail price for pork, covering the period of January 2000 through December 2014. Engle and Grager’s cointegration technique was adopted to examine long run price relationships for each pair of markets, while an asymmetric VAR-BEKK-GARCH model was followed to investigate whether asymmetry plays a role in short-run price adjustments and volatility spillovers. Key findings of this study include: (1) the presence of long-run relationship in all three pairs of markets; (2) asymmetric short-run price adjustments in retail and farm markets; (3) asymmetry in wholesale price volatility, wholesale price will be more volatile when confront with positive shocks; (4) bi-directional volatility spillovers in all three pairs of markets; and (5) asymmetric spillover effects to wholesale and farm markets, with price instabilities being more sensitive to the joint shocks that move in different directions. |
| Keywords: | asymmetry, price transmission, vertical supply chain, asymmetric VAR-BEKK-GARCH, volatility spillover, U.S. pork industry, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235727&r=agr |
| By: | Meyer, Kevin; Keiser, David A. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first estimates of the effects of climate change on agriculture while explicitly modeling tile drainage. We show in a simple conceptual model that the value of precipitation should differ between drained and non-drained land, implying that pooling these lands could bias estimates of the effects of climate change on land values. We test this hypothesis by estimating a Structural Ricardian model for U.S. counties east of the 100th meridian. Consistent with our theoretical model, our estimates show that the value of precipitation is higher on non-drained lands. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, adaptation, agriculture, climate impacts, tile drainage, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q10, Q15, Q51, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235932&r=agr |
| By: | Alan de Brauw, Gashaw Tadesse Abate; Nicholas Minot |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of the Wheat Initiative technology package promoted by the research and extension systems in Ethiopia on wheat growers in the highlands of the country. The package includes improved wheat seed, a lower seeding density, row planting, fertilizer recommendations, and marketing assistance. A sample of 490 wheat growers was randomly assigned to one of three groups: the full-package intervention group, a marketing-assistance-only group, and a control group. The results suggest that the full-package farmers had around 14 percent higher yields after controlling for the type of farmer and household characteristics. Implementation of the Wheat Initiative was successful in terms of the distribution of improved seed and fertilizer, though only 61 percent of the intervention group adopted row planting and few farmers received marketing assistance. The measured yield difference may underestimate the true yield difference associated with the technology because of incomplete adoption of the recommended practices by intervention farmers and adoption of some practices by control farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural practices, yield, randomized controlled trial, Ethiopia, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, O1, Q1, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235651&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Chenguang; Bai, Junfei; Gao, Zhifeng |
| Abstract: | In recent years more attention has been placed to the use of “geographical origin” labels by regulators, marketers, and consumers for food products, largely due to increased incidences of food related scares and the shift of traditional agricultural price-support programs to promotion of value-added and high quality products via labels and certifications (Unterschultz 1998; Gilmore 2002; Clemens and Babcock 2004; Menapace et. al, 2011). The underline economic motivation of product labeling is to facilitate the resolution of market failures associated with high-quality product under asymmetric information (Akelof, 1970). Because geography is often correlated with a product’s overall quality, “geographical origin” labels is perceived by consumer as a signal of quality, especially under situations of lacking prior consumption experience or the quality of the product is not easily observable. Market failures due to asymmetric information are often seen when high-quality products enter into “new markets” where recognition rates among consumers are low. As western countries remain mired post financial turmoil, the continuous economic growth in emerging markets have made emerging markets increasingly relevant to international producers and marketers. One significant challenge in these “new markets” is that many of the renowned national or regional brands are new to consumers. Under this situation, the use of “geographical origin” labels for new comers to overcome asymmetric information problem in emerging markets plays an important role. The European Union has long policy tradition to support “geographical origin” labels of member and finance product promotions to third countries. Over the past fifteen years, around €50 million was provided by the European commission annually in terms of co-financing of promotional programs, 10% of which has been used for supporting “geographical origin” labels. China, the world’s largest economy and the most populous nation, holds significant opportunities for international producers and exporters. However, with intense competitions from both domestic and international players, promoting international products in China is no easy task. One recent promotional program carried out by the European Commission was the launch of a ‘Tastes of Europe’ campaign in China in May 2015. The campaign aims to create awareness among the Chinese consumers about the characteristics and benefits of Geographical Indications for food products as a guarantee of authenticity, quality and safety, and ultimately to drive consumer purchase of these products. Yet in order to gain broader consumer recognition, an “umbrella” message, i.e., “Taste of Europe”, was used to carry a generic geographical origin message to reach consumers (EU Commission, 2015) . There are a few key questions to ask under this situation: For policy makers, whether such generic origin message can carry sufficient value to promote member country products, which essentially validate the effectiveness of the policy. For producers and marketers in member countries, what are the advantages and disadvantages to be associated with the European umbrella message, and whether the use of generic regional labeling compliments or compromises country specific labeling? Answers to the above questions rely on the evaluation of consumer response to the product quality signals associated with different geographical origin messages. A consumer survey on geographic labeling for imported dairy products was carried out in Beijing, China in May 2015 to tackle above-mentioned questions. We chose dairy research product for this study for several considerations: the strategic importance of dairy products to EU exporters and policy makers; the unsettled debate on mandatory COO labeling for dairy products; the leading role of China as a key emerging market for global dairy exporters; and the increased opportunity for international dairy exporters to use COO labels as quality signals in China market. One contribution of the paper is the comparison of the COO effect between generic regional label and country specific origin label. Under the “products of EU” range, we used “product of Ireland” as a case study for the country specific origin label. Information on consumer demographic, dairy consumption, safety perceptions, knowledge on Ireland and Irish products, as well as willingness to pay (WTP) for different geographic labeling and product attributes were collected through 307 face-to-face interviews. WTP was elicited using double-bounded contingent valuation method, and estimated with maximum log-likelihood function. Our study showed slightly higher consumer WTP for “product of EU” label compared to “product of Ireland” label, which seems to suggest the use of EU label as quality signal adds value to Irish products. But we also found that consumers have much higher WTP for grass-fed and sustainable dairy production, compared to product of EU labeling. Grass-fed dairy production and agricultural sustainability are two main characteristics of Irish dairy industry, yet such characteristics of Irish dairy are not registered in Chinese consumers’ minds. Using EU label may have an immediate value to promote Irish products, however our study suggested that promoting country specific origin labeling with product differentiation and brand establishment can be more beneficial in the long run. Although the study uses only one country as an example to evaluate and compare the generic origin labeling and country specific labeling, the study holds broader implication for many other countries, products, and marketers facing similar challenges. |
| Keywords: | Geographical origin label, GI, COO, Consumer studies, WTP, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235843&r=agr |
| By: | Holderieath, Jason |
| Abstract: | Conflicts between humans and wildlife are manifestations of inevitable divergences between human interests and wildlife presence and survival. Those conflicts can range from property damage to threatening and predatory behavior (USDA APHIS 2015). In the US, considerable financial resources are dedicated to managing human-wildlife conflicts. In 2014, the USDA allocated $106 million to the Wildlife Services division of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for a portion of the federally funded human-wildlife conflict mitigation efforts (USDA 2015). Among policy makers and researchers interested in human-wildlife conflicts, one species of particular recent interest is feral swine. The USDA has dedicated $20 million to support the ambitious goals to "eliminate feral swine from two States [sic] every three to five years and stabilize feral swine damage within 10 [sic] years" and to these and supporting efforts (Bannerman and Cole 2014). Feral swine are known to cause damage to crops among other types of property damage. Pimentel, Zuniga, and Morrison (2005) is the only publication with a nationwide estimate of feral swine damage in the US, estimating $800 million in crop and environmental damages per year. Damage estimates such as Pimentel, Zuniga, and Morrison (2005) are part of the foundation of knowledge required to arrive at an economic value of removal. However, they do not reflect a more complex reality. When crops are damaged, the quantity available to be brought to market decreases. Markets adjust to the lower quantities with higher prices. Farms suffering damage have less to sell at higher market prices and farms that do not suffer damage have the same quantity at higher market prices. Welfare measures such as changes in producer and consumer surplus describe if individuals are better or worse off from a given policy action or market change. To-date, there are no studies that assess the welfare implications of feral swine crop damage. To address this need in the literature we ask, what are the welfare effects to US crop producers and consumers from an immediate removal of feral swine in nine of the hardest hit states in the southeastern US? Additionally, what would be the distribution of those effects among consumers and farmers in different states? A partial equilibrium model is built based on historical production data in all US counties with a crop insurance program for Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Rice, and Peanuts from USDA NASS, feral swine presence data from USDA APHIS, and feral swine damage estimates from a recent USDA survey conducted in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. This model is used to create a counterfactual to the current reality of feral swine damage to value the absence of feral swine in the previously mentioned states. One framework for measuring the effects of feral swine crop damage is an Equilibrium Displacement Model (EDM). The EDM is a linear abstraction of supply and demand functions that describe the transition from one equilibrium to another without defining an exact functional form (Wohlgenant 2011; Wohlgenant 1993). The versatility of the EDM has allowed them to be used to examine export demand effects on grain, feed products, and livestock using genetically modified organisms (Preckel, Harrington and Dubman 2002), returns to public research (Alston, Norton and Pardey 1995), welfare effects of the Washington State University wheat breeding program (Nogueira et al. 2015), country of origin labeling (Brester, Marsh and Atwood 2004), and animal disease outbreaks (Pendell et al. 2007), among other uses. These varied applications are made possible by the flexibility inherent to the EDM. The literature has examples of EDMs with more than one product and location to serve as examples. Perrin and Scobie (1981) use an EDM with both multiple markets and price wedges to study the options for increasing nutrient consumption among Colombia's poor. More recently, Wohlgenant (2011) detailed several different variants of EDMs with multiple products and markets including vertical integration and joint products. Alston, Norton, and Pardey (1995) described several variants of EDMs with multiple markets including products related in consumption and products related in production as well as other models with multiple geographical markets. Nogueira et al. (2015) created a model that had both multiple products and multiple markets. Each of these models took a slightly different approach to measuring welfare changes. Our model closely follows the lead of Nogueira et al. (2015) in covering the products listed above in more than one place. Due to the price decrease resulting from the quantity increase, preliminary results indicate welfare losses for producers in states without feral swine, welfare gains or even losses for producers in states with feral swine, and unambiguous gains for consumers from a removal of feral swine damage. Final results will establish upper limits for what should be paid to control feral swine based on crop damage justification. |
| Keywords: | feral swine, wild pigs, EDM, Equilibrium Displacement Model, wildlife management, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q11, Q18, Q51, Q59, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235867&r=agr |
| By: | Interis, Matthew G.; Cordero-Salas, Paula; Mulangu, Francis |
| Abstract: | Ghanaian farmers often engage in formal or informal contracts with buyers of their product. Because the illiteracy rate among farmers is high and because of the appeal of side-selling (where farmers can sell at a higher price to someone other than the contract buyer), these agreements have historically been oral and therefore difficult to enforce. In this study, we use a choice experiment to determine which contract attributes make farmers more or less likely to enter into one. Farmers choose among proposed contracts that vary by whether they are written, the specified pricing structure, one’s familiarity with the buyer, whether side-selling is permitted, and whether the buyer provides support in the form of seed, fertilizers, or pesticides. We find that farmers are much more likely to enter written contracts and that they do not appear to prefer contracts that permit side-selling. They will avoid contracts that specify a quality criterion for their product, even if they will be paid more for better quality product. Familiarity with the buyer is also important for entering a contract. This study was funded by the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture to inform the establishment of an arbitration mechanism for agricultural contracts. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Contracts, Ghana, Choice Experiment, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:229789&r=agr |
| By: | Secor, William; Çakır, Metin |
| Abstract: | We investigate the extent to which a grocery retailer merger has different effects on the prices of national and store brands. Using retail scanner data, we retrospectively analyze a food retail acquisition in a large United States city. We focus on fluid milk and ready-to-eat cereal categories, which represent a relatively homogenous and a relatively differentiated product category, respectively. We use a difference-in-difference estimation framework to obtain the causal effect of the acquisition on prices for the acquiring retailer. Our findings provide evidence that store brands in differentiated product categories could allow a retailer to improve its market power. |
| Keywords: | Merger and acquisition, grocery retail, store brands, market power, difference-in-difference, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, L11, L13, L22, L81, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235945&r=agr |
| By: | Boehm, Rebecca; Wilde, Parke E.; Ver Ploeg, Michele; Costello, Christine; Cash, Sean B. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236065&r=agr |
| By: | Baker, Justin; Latta, Greg; Jones, Jason; Beach, Robert; Ohrel, Sara; Creason, Jared |
| Keywords: | Biopower, GHG Mitigation, Food Security, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236139&r=agr |
| By: | Dharmasena, Senarath; Bessler, David A.; Todd, Jessica |
| Abstract: | Socioeconomic, demographic and geographic factors affecting food purchase and acquisition decisions by the individuals and households in the United States are complex. Twenty two variables associated with socioeconomic, demographic and geographic factors affecting food purchase and acquisition decisions are studied in an algorithm that involve machine learning and causality structures to uncover complex causality patterns associated with such variables. Several publically available data sets as well as most recently collected USDA data, Food APS are used in this study. Preliminary analyses show that unemployment, poverty and race are direct causes of food insecurity, while income causes food insecurity via poverty. Unemployment is a common cause for both food insecurity and poverty. This modeling effort will help improve the nation’s path for effective nutrition and health-related policy interventions as stipulated by USDA-Economic Research Service Strategic Goals. |
| Keywords: | Food purchase, food acquisition, food insecurity, food assistance, poverty, obesity, directed acyclic graphs, Food APS data, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C40, D83, D85, I18, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235646&r=agr |
| By: | Tang, Liqun; Zhou, jiehong; Yu, Xiaohua |
| Abstract: | Climate extremes, characterized by droughts and floods, have become one of the major constraints to sustainable improvement of rice productivity. Variety choice, considered as one of the main adaptation measures, could help farmers reduce yield loss resulting from these extremes. Based on a three-year panel survey of 1,080 Chinese rice farms in major rice producing provinces, we study the effect of adopting weather tolerant variety rice as a main adaptation measure against climate extremes. Taking into account the endogeneity of adoption behavior, we employ an endogenous switching regression to separately estimate the treatment effects of adoption for adopters and non-adopters. We find that farmers who adopted the new variety increased yield by 537 kg/ha (about 7%), compared with the counterfactual case of no-adoption. In contrast, the farmers who did not adopt, would increase rice yield by 272 kg/ha (about 4 %) if they adopted, much smaller than the adopters. However, adoption of new variety demands more knowledge, better education, more intensive management, and higher seed costs. As a policy implication, expansion of public extension services could help relax these restrictions. |
| Keywords: | Climate extremes, rice, weather tolerant variety, yield, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235226&r=agr |
| By: | Meng, Ting; Carew, Richard C.; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Klepacka, Anna M. |
| Abstract: | Warmer temperatures and variable rainfall are likely to affect Saskatchewan’s production of canola and spring wheat. This study employs moments-based approaches (full- and partial-moments) to estimate the impact of precipitation and temperature changes on canola and spring wheat yield distributions. Environment Canada weather data and Statistics Canada crop yield, planted area, and summer fallow area are employed for 20 crop districts over the 1987-2010 period. Our results show that the average crop yields are positively associated with the growing season degree days (GDD), and pre-growing season precipitation, while negatively affected by extremely high temperatures. Furthermore, the climate measures have asymmetric effects on the higher moments of crop yield distribution. |
| Keywords: | Climate effect, full-moment function, partial-moment function, variance, Pesaran’s test, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q54, Q16, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235251&r=agr |
| By: | Gautam, Tej; Paudel, Krishna; Guidry, Kurt |
| Abstract: | This study identifies factors affecting irrigation technology adoption among soybean producers in Louisiana. We conducted survey to collect information regarding irrigation practices and concerns among the soybean farmers, then estimated technology adoption model using logit framework and analyzed the impact of different factors on irrigation technology adoption. Our estimated results show that the predicted probability for adopting furrow irrigation increases as well depth and land holding size increase. Additionally, farming experience, farm revenue, well drilling cost, education, and maintenance cost have negative effect on adopting furrow irrigation technology. |
| Keywords: | Irrigation technology, Soybean, Logit, Survey, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236180&r=agr |
| By: | Joseph, Kishore; Garcia, Philip; Peterson, Paul E. |
| Abstract: | We study the lead-lag relationship among live cattle futures and negotiated boxed beef cutout prices. To account for temporal differences in the information contained in boxed beef report release, Friday afternoon boxed beef prices are compared to both current day and one-day prior live cattle futures settlement prices. Extensive testing and innovation accounting based on VECM residuals indicate that the futures price leads boxed beef price as the dominant source of information in the fed cattle market. The futures price has a strong predictive influence on the boxed beef price and appears to assimilate fed cattle price information quicker than both contemporaneous and one-day ahead boxed beef prices. Newly-developed price discovery metrics interpreted to allow for a maximum boxed beef effect in the pricing process still identify the dominance of the current futures price, and nearly equal weighting for the lagged one-day futures price. |
| Keywords: | Price discovery, U.S. fed cattle market, Cointegration, Innovation accounting, Information leadership share, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, G13, Q11, Q13, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236166&r=agr |
| By: | Swinton, Scott; Van Deynze, Braeden |
| Abstract: | Weed control is the most labor-demanding aspect of row-crop agriculture in the absence of herbicides. The past century has seen weed management in the United States evolve from horse-drawn cultivators to broad-spectrum herbicides on herbicide-tolerant crops. Three waves of technological change have driven the evolution. Current weed control technologies are Mechanical (for organic products), Chemical (when herbicide resistant weeds require multiple herbicides for effective weed control), and Genetic + Chemical (herbicide-tolerant crop). Cost analysis for a representative Midwestern farm shows that these three systems have decreasing requirements in both capital and labor. |
| Keywords: | Weed management, technological change, farm management, herbicide, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235804&r=agr |
| By: | Upton, Joanna B.; Lentz, Erin C. |
| Abstract: | During the past two decades food assistance policy has shifted toward local or regional food purchases for in-kind delivery and away from purchases from donor countries. While recent research and policy interest has focused on whether and when local purchases can have positive impacts in developing countries and, in particular, on smallholder farmer suppliers, the primary mandate of food assistance remains the predictable, safe, and cost effective acquisition of food for needy populations. Yet, to date, little is known about what drives successful contracting with farmers’ organizations (FOs). We utilize data from the World Food Programme Purchase for Progress pilot in three East African countries to examine what features of organizations, contracts, and contexts best predict successful purchases. Drawing on related literature, we examine four possible explanations: FO characteristics, repeated experience or relationships, contract modalities and how they relate to local market price dynamics, and country contexts, We find that, across countries, local price dynamics and contracting experience are consistently important; an increase in market price between contract approval and delivery is associated with a greater likelihood of default, and the more that FOs engage in contracts the less likely they are to default. The relative importance of these features varies across countries, however, and within certain contexts some FO characteristics also play a role. Our investigation hence yields both generalizable and context-specific insights, informing an ongoing debate in the food assistance community about whether – and when - procuring from smallholder farmers results in tradeoffs or synergies. |
| Keywords: | food assistance, farmer organizations, supply-chain innovation, contracts, sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q18, L14, O19, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235656&r=agr |
| By: | Biswas, Trina; Kennedy, P. Lynn |
| Abstract: | Using a gravity model framework this paper examines the effect of corruption on bi- lateral agricultural trade. This is the first cross-country study in the trade literature to examine the relationship between corruption and agricultural trade. The article uses five-year panel data from 2006 to 2010 and corrects for sample-selection bias. It also uses an instrumental variable approach for addressing endogeneity concerns. The study provides evidence that corruption can be trade-taxing when the protection level is low, but with the degree of protection higher than a threshold level, it becomes trade-enhancing. The results are robust for different measures of corruption. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Agricultural Exports, Gravity Model, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, Public Economics, F10, F13, F14, |
| Date: | 2016–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235326&r=agr |
| By: | Sene, Seydina; Paudel, Dr. Krishna; Park, Dr. Timothy |
| Abstract: | We examine the changing structure of retail food stores, direct marketing (DM), and its impact on farmers’ financial performance in the United States. We use a maximum simulated likelihood estimation with multinomial treatments and continuous measures of sales to accommodate the treatment effects relative to the base (no direct marketing). Our analyses indicate that on the changing structure of retail food stores, no direct marketing (base case) outlet is the most adopted channel by direct marketers compared to direct market to consumers only (Treatment-1), direct marketing to retailers only (Treatment-2), and direct marketing to both consumers and retailers (Treatment-3). We find that farmers who have chosen no direct marketing option show better earning performance compared to the other treatments or market outlets channel options from which earning decreases by 75%, 19%, and 11%, respectively under Treatment-1, T-Treatment-2 and Treatment-3 from 2008 to 2010. Direct marketers who are more likely to choose either Treatment 1-3 option relative to no direct marketing on the basis of their unobserved characteristics, choose direct marketing less and less. |
| Keywords: | : Direct marketing, Earning, Endogenous treatment, Latent factors, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C25, Q12, Q13, Q16, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235736&r=agr |
| By: | Kumar, Anjani; Roy, Devesh; Joshi, Pramod Kr; Tripathi, Gaurav; Adhikari, Rajendra Pd |
| Abstract: | This study is undertaken to quantify the benefits of contract farming (CF) on farmers’ income in a case where new market opportunities are emerging for smallholder farmers in Nepal. CF is emerging as an important form of vertical coordination in the agrifood supply chain. The prospect for CF in a country like Nepal with accessibility issues, underdeveloped markets, and lack of amenities remains ambiguous. On the one hand, contractors find it difficult to build links in these cases, particularly when final consumers have quality and safety requirements. On the other hand, lack of other market opportunities makes the contracts more sustainable. The latter happens if there are product-specific quality advantages because of agroecology and, more important, lack of side-selling opportunities. At the same time concerns remain about monoposonistic powers of the buyers when small farmers do not have outside options. Results of this study show that CF is significantly more profitable (81 percent greater net income) than independent production, the main pathway being higher yield and price realization. The positive impact of CF on farmers’ profits can help Nepal in harnessing the growing demand for pulses, especially in neighboring international markets, like India. |
| Keywords: | Contract farming, lentil, income, small farmers, Nepal, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Q12, Q13, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235848&r=agr |
| By: | Grau, Aaron; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | In this paper a new approach for the estimation of oligopsony market power along a supply chain is developed. The theoretical framework relies on NEIO theory. Two subsequent markets with oligopsony power are modeled. Price equations, farm-processor and processor-retailer, are embedded in a price transmission framework. The reduced error correction representation is estimated via the Kalman-Filter to allow for time-variation in the long-run cointegration parameters. A dynamic factor model is applied to extract common factors from the time-varying coefficients and with the estimated results the processing industry’s and retail sector’s average input conjectural variations are calculated. The framework is applied to the German dairy supply chain over the time period January 2000 to March 2011. Results indicate lower levels of market imperfections on the raw milk and dairy output market. |
| Keywords: | market power, imperfect competition, conjectural variation, dairy industry, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235897&r=agr |
| By: | Ifft, Jennifer; Jodlowski, Margaret |
| Abstract: | Paper will be uploaded when final clearance received from ERS. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Political Economy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235950&r=agr |
| By: | Osei, Edward; Jafri, Syed |
| Abstract: | While climate change science is highly debatable, it is insightful to evaluate the potential implications of projected changes in climate patterns on agricultural production and farm incomes. This paper used the generally accepted climate model projections currently available to determine the implications of these projections on farm production levels and incomes in Texas. The results shown here suggest a moderate decline in farm production, on average across the entire State of Texas. Impacts on individual counties or regions may be more or less marked depending on the projected changes in weather patterns. Additional results will highlight regional differences and will also look at the impacts of other climate change scenarios on farm production and income. |
| Keywords: | climate change, production, farm income, RCP45, Texas, APEX, FEM, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Q18, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236053&r=agr |
| By: | Oñate, Carlos Andrés; Ozaki, Vitor Augusto; Bravo-Ureta, Boris |
| Abstract: | This research evaluates the impact of a public risk management tool that provides insurance to small-scale farmers. In particular, we analyze the “Farm Activity Guarantee Program for Smallholders” or Proagro Mais, which is one of the largest Brazilian public programs that uses crop insurance indemnity mechanisms. This program covers financial debts incurred by smallholders related to rural credit operations, and which payment was hampered by the occurrence of pests, diseases or climatological effects. The relevance of this research relies on the considerable size of the program, both in terms of number of operations and money invested to cover crop losses. We use a sample of small-scale corn producers from the State of Paraná, which included Proagro Mais beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries. One should note that all growers in the sample contracted credits associated with their corn crop, but not all subscribed to the insurance Program. We use 2003 as the baseline since it is the year prior to the launch of Proagro Mais and then used 2005 as the endline considering the indemnity mechanism of the Program. The database used in this study was provided by the Federal Accounting Court of Brazil (TCU), and includes 25,877 corn growers that contracted with Proagro Mais between 2003 and 2005 (treatment group), and 68,312 growers who were not beneficiaries of that program in this same period (control group). The relevant variables include crop and growers characteristics such as area financed, complementary economic activities for additional income (dummy), education, and expected yield. We also added meteorological and regional variables from other public sources to control farm location. Our main objective is to evaluate the impact of Proagro Mais on the amount of credit per hectare granted to the beneficiaries of the Program. The methodology includes Propensity Score Matching (PSM) along with Difference-in-Difference (DID). We use longitudinal data and apply the conditional DID estimator proposed by Heckman et al. (1997), and the conditional DID estimator with repeated cross-sections, proposed by Blundell and Costa Dias (2000).The econometric estimates with both methods described above, show that the effect of the treatment on the tread was not positive. This suggests that after the yield loss period, the control group got a higher average amount of credit per hectare than Proagro Mais beneficiaries. Thus, the question that arises is whether there may be other agricultural risk management mechanisms more suited for smallholders than Proagro Mais, or whether the evaluated program could not achieve its main goal because it does not cover all risks faced by its beneficiaries. Therefore, this study could serve to promote discussions about the economic performance and efficiency of agricultural policy in Brazil. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, impact evaluation, agricultural risk management policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, Q18, C54, Q12, G22, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236096&r=agr |
| By: | Ochieng, Dennis O.; Veettil, Prakashan C.; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Empirical analysis of contractual arrangements between supermarkets and smallholder farmers remains scarce, yet farmers’ contract preferences influence their participation in supermarket contracts. We employ mixed logit model to analyze farmers’ preferences for contracts using discrete choice data from a sample of vegetable farmers of central Kenya, sampled through stratified random sampling procedure. Results show that farmers generally do not exhibit risk aversion to contracts and would choose them depending on their attributes. Certain farmer characteristics influence decision to contract and preferences for contract design attributes. Findings also show that group marketing could be an interesting option to reduce individual risks and transaction costs. Designing contracts that lower risks to smallholder farmers, and or with transparent risk-sharing clauses would enhance their participation in supermarket contracts. Some wider policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | supermarkets, contracts, farmers’ preferences, choice experiment, Kenya, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235632&r=agr |
| By: | Bakhtavoryan, Rafael; Capps, Oral, Jr.; Salin, Victoria |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235621&r=agr |
| By: | Rusiana, Hofner D.; Escalante, Cesar L. |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to analyse the issue of loan repayment in microfinance institutions and examine the factors that affect the exit of borrowers from microfinance borrowing networks. This paper presents the analysis of the borrower-level data of agricultural microfinance household borrowers in the Philippines from 2000 to 2010. Results show varied set of reasons to explain both the continued, sustained relationship of MFI borrowers with their lenders as well as the strained relationship with some borrowers who were inevitably evicted from the MFI system or had voluntarily exited the system. The study also indicates that MFI borrowers’ poor repayment records and eventual exit from the MFI system are attributed to borrowers’ weaknesses and uncontrollable circumstances. |
| Keywords: | microfinance, MFI, loans, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235472&r=agr |
| By: | Erdem, Seda; McCarthy, Tony |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235864&r=agr |
| By: | Brockhaus, Jan; Kalkuhl, Matthias; Kozicka, Marta |
| Abstract: | India has a long tradition of maintaining public rice and wheat stocks. Storage and trade policies helped to stabilize prices in the past. However, stock levels and costs are surging while it remains unknown how different factors quantitatively contribute to public stock levels or how private stockholders are affected. This study addresses these issues by empirically quantifying drivers of public carry-over rice stocks at the national level. Furthermore, it applies a recently developed method and combines it with an instrumental variable approach to quantify determinants of private grain stocks. Public storage is found to be inert and driven by the minimum support price (MSP), market supply, and export bans. Private stocks are driven by private supply (production and private stocks) and export opportunities. Each ton of public stocks crowds out half a ton of private stocks but despite huge government interventions, speculative storage activities persist. This is beneficial for consumers as the public stocks currently offer no crisis-responsive consumer protection – only export restrictions do. The 29% increase of the real minimum support price in 2008 contributed 4.9 million tons to public stocks, the export ban another 3.9. These factors, combined with the bumper harvests in 2010 and 2011, led to the recent surges in public stocks. Findings furthermore indicate that policy makers were aiming to implement price stabilizing policies in the wake of the world food crisis but did not anticipate that these policies would result in massive public stock increases. This underlines the need for adjustments in the current system. Different econometric models are applied as robustness checks and yield comparable results. |
| Keywords: | public storage, private stocks, rice, India, minimum support price, export ban, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Q1, I3, |
| Date: | 2016–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235659&r=agr |
| By: | Schaefer, K. Aleks |
| Abstract: | In the presence of market imperfections, there is no guarantee that society will benet from technological change. This research analyzes the impact of biotechnology designed to bypass agricultural processes in the production of pharmaceutical products. High quality pharmaceuticals often exist alongside less eective treatments with a common active phytochemical ingredient. In this context, antimicrobial resistance generated by the consumption of one product also aects the ecacy of the other product. These interdependencies fundamentally alter the eects of biotechnology on retail markets, agricultural input markets, and antimicrobial resistance. I construct a dynamic epidemiological-economic model of the global market for anti-malarials to analyze the potential economic and public health costs associated with the introduction of a recently developed semi-synthetic production technology by which to procure artemisinin for use in artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) used in the treatment of malaria. I nd that in addition to decreasing the price of ACTs, semi-synthetic production technology also lowers the price of low quality monotherapy treatments and increases resistance to all forms of artemisinin. Despite these adverse eects, the development of semi-synthetic artemisinin leads to a present-value gain of approximately $2 billion in social welfare over a seven-year time horizon. |
| Keywords: | artemisinin, biotechnology, drug resistance, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235716&r=agr |
| By: | Kim, Youngjune; Pendell, Dustin |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235828&r=agr |
| By: | Pokharel, Krishna; Featherstone, Allen |
| Abstract: | This research examines productivity growth of agricultural cooperatives using the Malmquist productivity index (MI) under constant returns to scale and the biennial Malmquist productivity index (BMI) assuming variable returns to scale. A nonparametric data envelopment analysis approach is used to calculate both the MI and BMI. Results from the two methods are compared to evaluate whether the decomposition into technical and efficiency changes are similar under the MI and BMI methods. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Malmquist Index, Biennial Malmquist Index, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236273&r=agr |
| By: | Arora, Gaurav; Hennessy, David A.; Feng, Hongli; Wolter, Peter T. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses strategic permanent grassland conversion decisions in the Dakotas. We present a binary discrete choice model with dynamic decision-making among heterogeneous farmers to evaluate these land use changes. We also explore the role of conservation easements- a policy tool to inhibit grassland conversions. We utilize a spatially-explicit panel dataset to empirically analyze permanent grass conversions relative to the neighborhood characteristics in North Dakota during 1997-2015. A duration modelling approach is used to estimate the risk of conversion for a representative land parcel as a function of the density of grasslands in its locality, and its proximity to previously allocated easements. We find that the land parcels with higher local grass-density ‘survived’ relatively longer before being permanently converted to cropland. This affirms our conjecture that strategic complementarities exist. We further find that easements are a viable conservation tool as their presence in a parcel’s proximity complements higher grass-density and inhibits conversion. However, most easements seem to have been misallocated in the sense that they are generally located away from conversion sites, in proximity of the areas where conversions did not occur anyway. |
| Keywords: | Permanent Grass Conversion, Conservation Easements, Strategic Complementarity, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236016&r=agr |
| By: | Gori Maia, Alexandre; Eusebio, Gabriela S.; Silveira, Rodrigo L. F. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of PRONAF credit program on small-farm agricultural production in Brazil. The study compares farmers’ production value considering the obtainment of PRONAF credit, controlling for farm, farms and production system characteristics. The data set consists of the 2006 Agricultural Census, which considers 5.2 million of small farmers in Brazil. In addition to using multiple linear regression model to estimate the net impact of PRONAF on total production value, we applied a propensity score matching method in order to identify pairs of family farms relatively homogeneous, one that accessed the credit and other that did not, estimating the average difference between their production values. Regression analysis showed that the access to PRONAF had a positive and significant net effect on production value of around 18%. In addition, propensity score matching results seemed to exhibit similar evidence to those obtained by regression model. Farmers that obtained PRONAF microcredit presented a production value higher than others, with the difference ranging from 6% to 20%. The impact is lower in the less developed regions, which is characterized by forestry, subsistence agriculture and low technology adoption. For more developed regions, where farmers are more specialized and integrated in the market, the PRONAF has shown relevant net impacts on the production value. |
| Keywords: | agricultural production, agricultural microcredit, small farms, propensity score, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235682&r=agr |
| By: | ji, yongjie; keiser, david |
| Abstract: | Bene t estimates of water pollution control policies rely heavily on water quality in- dices. Since the 1970s, these measures of water quality have been used extensively in stated preference surveys to estimate willingness to pay for water quality that is suitable for recre- ational use. However, there is little empirical evidence of how well these indices correspond to observed recreational behavior. This paper utilizes a unique micro-dataset of individual household recreational use and water quality in a revealed preference framework to explore how well several major water quality indices explain water-based recreational use. |
| Keywords: | Water Recreation, Water Quality Indices, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q51, Q53, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235886&r=agr |
| By: | Xiong, Bo |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2016–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235636&r=agr |
| By: | Nair, Shyam S.; Amosson, Steve |
| Abstract: | The Northern High Plains (NHP) of Texas is home to more than a million acres of irrigated crop production. The area is dependent on the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation water that has a very minimal recharge rate which is leading to diminishing water availability making the adoption of more water efficient irrigation practices such as irrigation scheduling critical to sustaining irrigated agriculture. Corn is by far the largest user of irrigation water in the NHP. The objective of this study was to estimate the value of irrigation scheduling for corn in NHP using three-year data from the “200-12 demonstration” that had both demonstration plots (optimal irrigation scheduling followed) and side-by-side control plots (farmers’ practices followed). Production per acre-inch of irrigation from the demonstration and control plots were compared to estimate the value of irrigation scheduling. Analysis of the data indicated adding irrigation scheduling resulted in a 9.72% increase in corn yield per acre-inch applied, which resulted in a $91.22 per acre increase in net returns. Although results from individual farms varied considerably, the economic advantage of irrigation scheduling decreased over time suggesting that the producers were learning from the demonstration and implementing similar irrigation scheduling practices on their remaining land. |
| Keywords: | Irrigation scheduling, Corn, Texas High Plains, Irrigation Economics, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q12, Q25, |
| Date: | 2016–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:230041&r=agr |
| By: | Dolgopolova, Irina; Teuber, Ramona |
| Abstract: | Assessing potential demand for functional or healthy foods is crucial from several perspectives. First, foods with functional attributes in many cases require more expensive production process than traditional foods, for example, when the functional attribute is provided by enhancing or enriching the products with additional substances. It is necessary, then, to estimate potential demand for functional foods prior to the delivering product to the consumers. Second, the promotion of healthier food options is related to the fact that an unhealthy diet is among the four main behavioral risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCD) and are mostly spread in low- and middle-income countries. It has been demonstrated that prices can be a barrier for healthy food consumption, especially among low-income groups of the population. From this perspective, it needs to be clearly stated if consumers indeed are ready to pay price premiums for foods aimed at improving their health. Third, market introduction of functional foods and foods with health benefits has not always been successful. Despite the importance of a healthy diet in the prevention of some diseases and sustaining well-being in general, economists and marketing researchers observe some uncertainty in consumers’ perception and acceptance of foods with health benefits. This paper investigates the body of research that has been performed so far on consumers’ valuations of healthy attributes in food products by means of a meta-analysis. It explores if variation in willingness to pay (WTP) for healthy attributes in foods that have been reported in scientific papers on the topic can be attributed to common factors related to the choice of the methodology, the place and time of data collection, the choice of the carrier product and the health benefit specified. Thus, our study contributes to the existing literature on health-enhancing foods by (i) reviewing the existing empirical evidence on consumer valuations of different healthy attributes, (ii) identifying the major underlying drivers of differences in WTP estimates via meta-analysis and (iii) deriving directions of research to be taken into account for the future developments in the field. Literature search resulted in 28 studies which provided 175 WTP estimates. Stata meta-regression command specifically designed for meta-analyses was employed. This command allows analyzing study-level data and estimates the between-study variance and the coefficients by weighted least squares when the outcome variable is continuous. The results of the meta-regression imply that the elicitation method, the carrier product, the specific health benefit, and the place of the study significantly influence variations in WTP estimates across studies. First, hypothetical methods of willingness to pay elicitation produce higher valuations compared to non-hypothetical methods like experimental auction and real purchase data. Second, with respect to the base product the results indicate that in case of dairy products (milk, yogurt, cream cheese, cheese, butter and ice cream) and fruits and vegetables the WTP estimates for a specific health attribute are significantly lower than for all other product categories included. Third, according to our results the specific health attribute “Cholesterol lowering” leads to significantly higher WTP estimates than any other health/nutrition claim. The valuations of this attribute varied from 0% to 200% with the highest values referring to the spread for lowering cholesterol. Finally, the place where the data was collected influences WTP estimates. Our results indicate that there are no significant differences between studies conducted in Europe, the United States and other regions. However, studies conducted with Canadian consumers report statistically significant lower WTP values. In general, it can be noticed that despite an established connection between diet and the development of non-communicable diseases, economics and marketing research so far fails to provide systematic view on the consumer valuations of different healthy attributes in food and, consequently, on the perspective demand for these products. Studies reviewed reported very different valuations of healthy attributes in foods. Studies also differ greatly in basically all parameters of the research: data collection, methodology, and analysis of the results. Although it seems rather difficult to draw general conclusions about consumers’ willingness to pay for healthy attributes in foods, this research summarizes the efforts performed so far and may be employed to determine the directions for future analysis. |
| Keywords: | health-enhancing attributes, meta-analysis, willingness to pay, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18 Agricultural Policy • Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235390&r=agr |
| By: | Moschini, GianCarlo; Lapan, Harvey; Kim, Hyunseok |
| Abstract: | We construct a tractable multi-market equilibrium model designed to evaluate alternative biofuel policies. The model integrates the US agricultural sector with the energy sector, and explicitly consider both US ethanol and biodiesel production. The model provides a careful structural representation of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) policies, and it uses the arbitrage conditions defining the core value of renewable identification number (RIN) prices to identify the relevant competitive equilibrium conditions. The model is parameterized, based on elasticities and technical coefficients from the literature, to represent observed 2015 data. The parameterized model is simulated to analyze alternative scenarios, including: repeal of the RFS; projected 2022 RFS mandates; and, optimal (second best) mandates. The results confirm that the current RFS program considerably benefits the agriculture sector, but also leads to overall welfare gains for the United States (mostly via beneficial terms of trade effects). Implementation of projected 2022 mandates, which would require further expansion of biodiesel production, would lead to a considerable welfare loss (relative to the status quo). Constrained optimal mandates would entail more corn-based ethanol and less biodiesel than in both the status quo and the projected 2022 scenario. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, Mandates, Terms of Trade, Welfare, Carbon emissions, Renewable fuel, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, F1, H2, Q1, Q2, |
| Date: | 2016–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235721&r=agr |
| By: | Heo, Seong-Yoon; Kim, Sanghyo; Zulauf, Carl; Lee, Kye-Im |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236145&r=agr |
| By: | Woodard, Joshua; Wang, Diane; McClung, Anna; Ziska, Lewis; Dutta, Tridib; McCouch, Susan |
| Abstract: | Crop yield distribution estimation has long been a major focus of agricultural policy, insurance, and risk management research. Yet, explicit incorporation of variety or genetic data in the estimation of yield distributions remains elusive in large scale contexts, both within agricultural economics as well as the broader crop sciences. The purpose of this study is to investigate methods for integrating crop variety data into crop yield distribution models. Through a unique data collection effort, we have assembled a large scale dataset of yield, weather, soil type, and varietal data for planted acreage for the last four and a half decades for the U.S. rice market. This dataset represents virtually all rice grown in the southern U.S. since 1970 (approximately 125 million acres). This research is the first to our knowledge that attempts to model the relationships between varieties, yield, soil, and weather using such large scale market data. Significant variation was found among crop variety performance, and on average varieties have improved through time as it regards yield impacts. We find that about half of all technology gains in the U.S. rice market can be explained by the introduction of, and shifting towards, new rice varieties and adaptation related to adoption of better performing varieties, suggesting that the market actively adapts. This is perhaps not surprising given the investments in these markets, the rational actions of economic agents in choosing varieties, as well as advancements in breeding programs. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236170&r=agr |
| By: | Nakano, Yuko; Tanaka, Tuki; Otsuka, Keijiro |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of modified System of Rice Intensification (SRI) training provided by a large-scale private farm on the performance of surrounding small-scale rice farmers in a rain-fed area in Tanzania. We found that the training effectively increases the adoption of improved rice cultivation practices, paddy yield, and profit of rice cultivation by small-holder farmers. In fact, the trainees achieve paddy yield of 5 tons per hectare on average, which is remarkably high in rain-fed rice cultivation by any standard. Our results suggest high potential for achieving a rice Green Revolution in rain-fed areas and the importance of extension services by large-scale farms. |
| Keywords: | Green Revolution, Sub-Saharan Africa, Technology Adoption, Lowland Rice, Modified System of Rice Intensification, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, O12, O13, O33, O55, Q12, Q16, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212521&r=agr |
| By: | Zarebanadkoki, Samane; Zheng, Yuqing; Woods, Timothy; Buck, Steven |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236112&r=agr |
| By: | Chen, Lijun; Parcell, Joe L; Chen, Chao; James, Harvey S. Jr; Xu, Danning |
| Keywords: | Sampling, Supermarket, Preference, Trust, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236043&r=agr |
| By: | Bajrami, Egzon; Wailes, Eric; Dixon, Bruce; Musliu, Arben |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235839&r=agr |
| By: | Delzeit, Ruth; Klepper, Gernot; Söder, Mareike |
| Abstract: | The contribution of biofuels to save greenhouse gas emissions has been challenged over the last years. A still unresolved question is how to quantify emissions from indirect land use change (iLUC). In this paper we review approaches to quantify iLUC-emissions. We conclude that economic simulation models have fewer drawbacks compared to two other approaches. We find that economic simulation models contain a high level of uncertainty with respect to key model parameters. Further, we conclude that it is inappropriate to calculate crop-specific iLUC-emissions and to include them into binding regulation. We argue that modelling results, particularly crop-specific ones, should not be used for policy decisions. |
| Keywords: | CGE Modeling,indirect land use change,biofuels,greenhouse gas emissions |
| JEL: | C61 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2035&r=agr |
| By: | Wechsler, Seth; McFadden, Jonathan; Smith, David |
| Abstract: | The first case of glyphosate resistant weeds was documented in 1998, two years after the commercialization of genetically engineered, herbicide tolerant (HT) corn and soybeans. Currently, over 14 resistant weed species affect U.S. crop production areas. This study uses a novel two-stage, structural model to derive cost functions for pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide use. The parameters of the structural model are estimated using censored nonlinear full information maximum likelihood. Control functions from first-stage regressions account for the endogeneity of farmers’ expected yields and seed choices. The results of the analysis are used to determine the extent to which resistance has eroded the benefits associated with glyphosate applications in HT production systems. Our preliminary results suggest that glyphosate resistance may have decreased weed control by as much as eight percentage points from 2005 to 2010. |
| Keywords: | glyphosate resistance, herbicide tolerance, corn, damage abatement, nonlinear full information maximum likelihood, control functions, Demand and Price Analysis, Production Economics, Q12, Q16, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235998&r=agr |
| By: | Mekbib Haile; Matthias Kalkuhl; Bernardina Algieri; Samuel Gebreselassié |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the degree of vertical price transmission along the wheat-bread value chain in Ethiopia. This is pursued by applying a vector error correction model (VECM) and an impulse response analysis using monthly price data for the period 2000-2015. The analysis considers different market levels starting from international wheat market and domestic wheat producers at the upstream to domestic bread market at the downstream of the value chain. The empirical findings indicate that significant cointegration exists across prices of the different stages along the value chain. There is a transmission from international prices to domestic prices at downstream markets, in particular flour and bread prices. Prices at upstream markets are largely influenced by the domestic wholesale market. In general, the speed of adjustment is quite slow with a half-life of about one year for restoring the equilibrium price. As price margins between the different market stages in the value chain have substantially decreased in the last 15 years, higher transmission, and thus, exposure to international market shocks can be expected in future. Last but not least, the results also reveal that causal relationships exist between prices at different market stages-with the wholesale market identified as the key market level where prices and price expectations are formed. |
| JEL: | Q02 Q11 Q13 L11 M31 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:50&r=agr |
| By: | Byeong-il, Ahn; Younghyeon, Jeon |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of a tariff reduction on the world's grain self-sufficiency which is a main component in defining the food security. We develop a theoretical model in which trade, tariff and supply-demand equations are explicitly included, with the classification of food-importing and exporting countries. Empirical equations are estimated using the system generalized method-of-moments (GMM) approach to control endogeneity problem. Estimation results based on panel data for 150 countries over 17 years show that world grain price and world's self-sufficiency rate(SSR) are positively correlated, but the country level GDP per capita, population, agricultural input price, and prices of substitutes for grain have negative effects on world's SSR. The effects of domestic tariff of food-importing countries on the world’s grain SSR are estimated to be positive. Using the estimated coefficients on the empirical equations, we derived the elasticities of grain SSR with respect to the tariff level of food-importing countries. Those are in the ranges of 0.221-0.387. These results support the argument that tariff reduction has a negative effect on the importer’s food SSR. |
| Keywords: | trade liberalization, tariff reduction, self-sufficiency, system generalized method of moments, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2016–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235578&r=agr |
| By: | Ray, Mukesh; Maredia, Mywish; Shupp, Robert |
| Keywords: | International Development, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236113&r=agr |
| By: | Rudi, Jeta |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235813&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Tongzhe; Bernard, John; Johnston, Zachary; Messer, Kent; Kaiser, Harry |
| Abstract: | In August 2010, more than half a billion eggs were recalled in the U.S. because of a Salmonella outbreak. This study examines the effect of the recall with a unique pair of auction experiments investigating willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional and organic eggs, one conducted shortly before and one after the recall with the same participants. In addition to the before and after bids, participants bid again after a negative information or balanced information treatment about the event. Accompanying surveys showed consumers had a high level of awareness of the recall but less knowledge of specific details, and viewed information on egg farm conditions as very important in their WTP. While there were no significant before and after differences, WTP for organic eggs significantly increased in the negative information treatment, and balanced information had a positive effect on consumer WTP for conventional eggs. |
| Keywords: | Consumer preferences, Laboratory experiments, Revealed preference, Food recall, Eggs, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D12, M31, Q13, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235438&r=agr |