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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2019‒08‒26
63 papers chosen by |
| By: | Holden, Stein T. (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences); Tilahun , Mesfin (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Continued strong population growth in already densely populated rural areas in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa makes it harder for youth to choose agriculture as their main source of income. We investigate whether near landless youth still can access rented land as a complementary source of income. We utilize a unique data of rural youth that have been allocated rehabilitated communal land to form formalized business groups for joint business activity. They rely on complementary sources of income and land renting is one of these. Utilizing a sample of 3500 youth business group members from 360 youth business groups collected in 2016 and 2019 in five districts in Tigray region of Ethiopia, we find that 42% of the youth had access to rented land in 2016 and 47% in 2019. Average area rented was 0.66ha in 2016 and 0.74ha in 2019. Land renting is the most important source of income for 17 and 16% of the youth in 2016 and 2019 and the second most important source of income for 14 and 20% in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Access to rented land is constrained, however. Male youth who own oxen are much more likely to be able to rent in land. Utilizing a trust game to elicit trust and trustworthiness of the youth, we also found a positive association between trustworthiness and access to rented land. Trust reduces transaction costs and more trustworthy youth have better access to rented land. The importance of trust is also illustrated by the dominance of kinship contracts and contracts with close neighbors reducing the costs of monitoring tenants. The prohibition of land sales in Ethiopia limits the potential of the “agricultural ladder” to facilitate that youth can climb out of poverty through purchase of land. The youth group model may, however, help to overcome the barrier associated with very small and shrinking farm sizes and facilitate the development of larger and more professional land-based production units. Land renting is one of the rural livelihood diversification options that youth pursue and that help to sustain the youth business groups. |
| Keywords: | Continued strong population growth in already densely populated rural areas in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa makes it harder for youth to choose agriculture as their main source of income. We investigate whether near landless youth still can access rented land as a complementary source of income. We utilize a unique data of rural youth that have been allocated rehabilitated communal land to form formalized business groups for joint business activity. They rely on complementary sources of income and land renting is one of these. Utilizing a sample of 3500 youth business group members from 360 youth business groups collected in 2016 and 2019 in five districts in Tigray region of Ethiopia; we find that 42% of the youth had access to rented land in 2016 and 47% in 2019. Average area rented was 0.66ha in 2016 and 0.74ha in 2019. Land renting is the most important source of income for 17 and 16% of the youth in 2016 and 2019 and the second most important source of income for 14 and 20% in 2016 and 2019; respectively. Access to rented land is constrained; however. Male youth who own oxen are much more likely to be able to rent in land. Utilizing a trust game to elicit trust and trustworthiness of the youth; we also found a positive association between trustworthiness and access to rented land. Trust reduces transaction costs and more trustworthy youth have better access to rented land. The importance of trust is also illustrated by the dominance of kinship contracts and contracts with close neighbors reducing the costs of monitoring tenants. The prohibition of land sales in Ethiopia limits the potential of the “agricultural ladder” to facilitate that youth can climb out of poverty through purchase of land. The youth group model may; however; help to overcome the barrier associated with very small and shrinking farm sizes and facilitate the development of larger and more professional land-based production units. Land renting is one of the rural livelihood diversification options that youth pursue and that help to sustain the youth business groups. |
| JEL: | Q15 |
| Date: | 2019–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsclt:2019_007&r=all |
| By: | Collins-Sowah, Peron A. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I explored the various components and conceptual underpinnings of climate smart agriculture to develop a conceptual framework to better understand climate smart agriculture. Furthermore, I proposed a new definition of "climate smart agriculture" based on the various components of the concept and the need for trade-offs and synergies. "Climate smart agriculture technologies and management practices" was also defined based on pillar three of climate smart agriculture as a necessary condition. I argue that since the buzzword "climate smart" has strictly a climate focus, the concept of climate smart agriculture resonates more on GHG emission mitigation. I however posit that a more concise definition of the climate smartness of agricultural production systems will require empirical measurement of some aspects of the concept. Since climate smart agriculture is defined along three pillars (productivity increases, building resilience and adapting, and GHG emission reduction), key concepts such as productivity, resilience, vulnerability and carbon sequestration provide indicators for future empirical measurements of the climate smart agriculture concept. |
| Keywords: | Climate,agriculture,policies,institutions,theory,concept |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cauapw:wp201802&r=all |
| By: | Fatima, Hira; Ahmed, Mumtaz |
| Abstract: | One of the basic aims of the sustainable development goals is to reduce poverty, hunger and malnutrition across the globe. It is believed that commodity booms have severe impacts on developing countries where households spend large share of their disposable income on food. Thus, hitting the poor’s ability buy necessities such as food and energy. Pakistan being a developing economy has a large share of its exports that depends on the agriculture sector in which price is the main determinant and plays a key role. In last decade, an increasing trend has been observed in agricultural commodity prices leading to food insecurity, poverty and inflation in the economy. Thus, it is essential to figure out the price bubbles in the agriculture sector. In this regard, present study is preliminary in nature and takes a lead in addressing this important issue and finds out the bubbles in agricultural commodity prices of Pakistan. The empirical analysis is carried out by employing recently developed state of art GSADF approach developed by Phillips et al. (2015) and making use of monthly data of seven key agricultural commodities in Pakistan spanning over the period of 18 years (2000M1 to 2018M5). The findings suggest the occurrence of bubbles in all price series with some interesting facts. Some relevant policy recommendations are discussed as well. |
| Keywords: | Multiple Bubbles; GSADF; Monte-Carlo Simulations; Unit Root |
| JEL: | Q14 Q18 |
| Date: | 2019–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95304&r=all |
| By: | Crane-Droesch, Andrew; Marshall, Elizabeth; Rosch, Stephanie; Riddle, Anne; Cooper, Joseph; Wallander, Steven |
| Abstract: | Programs that help farmers manage risk are a major component of the Federal Government’s support to rural America. Changes to this risk—and thus to the Government’s fiscal exposure— are expected as weather averages and extremes change over the coming decades. This study uses a combination of statistical and economic modeling techniques to explore the mechanisms by which climate change could affect the cost of the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to the Federal Government, which accounts for approximately half of Government expenditures on agricultural risk management. Our approach is to compare scenarios of the future that differ only in terms of climate. Using weather scenarios for 2060-99 from general circulation models, we project decreases in corn and soybean yields and mixed changes to winter wheat yields, compared to a baseline scenario in which climate is identical to that of the past three decades. We use an economic model of the U.S. agricultural sector to estimate how projected yield changes may induce farmers to change what and where they plant, and the resulting impacts on production and output prices. These ingredients allow us to explore drivers of change in the cost of the FCIP’s Revenue Protection program, which is used as a heuristic for potential farm safety net programs that could exist in the future. Differences between the scenarios are driven by increasing prices for the three crops studied, caused by relatively lower production in the presence of inelastic demand, as well as by changing volatility in both yields and prices. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:291962&r=all |
| By: | Ana Miranda (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "Despite the expansion of public food procurement initiatives, research into remaining challenges and lessons learned remains limited. The literature review in Miranda (2018) aimed to address some of the research gaps by pinpointing best practices to promote smallholder participation in public food procurement and foster synergies with food security and nutrition outcomes. This One Pager presents the key best practices identified in the paper". (...) |
| Keywords: | Public, food procurement, smallholder, farmers, literature, review, best practices |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:411&r=all |
| By: | Crane-Droesch, Andrew; Marshall, Elizabeth; Rosch, Stephanie; Riddle, Anne; Cooper, Joseph; Wallander, Steven |
| Abstract: | Programs that help farmers manage risk are a major component of the Federal Government’s support to rural America. Changes to this risk—and thus to the Government’s fiscal exposure—are expected as weather averages and extremes change over the coming decades. This study uses a combination of statistical and economic modeling techniques to explore the mechanisms by which climate change could affect the cost of the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to the Federal Government, which accounts for approximately half of Government expenditures on agricultural risk management. Our approach is to compare scenarios of the future that differ only in terms of climate. Using weather scenarios for 2060-99 from general circulation models, we project decreases in corn and soybean yields and mixed changes to winter wheat yields, compared to a baseline scenario in which climate is identical to that of the past three decades. We use an economic model of the U.S. agricultural sector to estimate how projected yield changes may induce farmers to change what and where they plant, and the resulting impacts on production and output prices. These ingredients allow us to explore drivers of change in the cost of the FCIP’s Revenue Protection program, which is used as a heuristic for potential farm safety net programs that could exist in the future. Differences between the scenarios are driven by increasing prices for the three crops studied, caused by relatively lower production in the presence of inelastic demand, as well as by changing volatility in both yields and prices. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:292268&r=all |
| By: | Obembe, Oladipo S.; Hendricks, Nathan P. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291128&r=all |
| By: | Weersink, Alfons; Bannon, Nicholas; Riddle, Julia; Turland, Madeline |
| Abstract: | The amount of farmland in Canada serves as the basis for debate on a host of public policy issues ranging from food security to sustainability to competiveness. Despite the interest and the basis for policies such as land use controls, there is little documentation on total farmland area and composition in Canada. This report documents the changes in the total amount of farmland in Canada using data from the Census of Agriculture. The national and provincial trends in the composition of farmland from 1921 to 2016 are described with additional focus at the county level for Ontario. There are approximately 160 million acres of farmland in Canada. While there have generally not been significant changes in the amount of farmland between census periods, there were drops of around 4% in the 1981 and 2011 census. Most of this farmland is located in Saskatchewan (40%) and Alberta (31%), while the total amount in Ontario has fallen by 50% since 1941 and represents 8% of the Canadian total. Approximately half of Canada’s total farmland is used to grow crops. The amount of cropland has increased by 28% over the past 40 years with much of the growth occurring from 1976 to 2001. Seeded pasture, which makes up less than 10% of total farmland, has also increased over time with much of the increase occurring in the Prairies. While cropland and seeded pasture generally rose over time, the small decline in national farmland was due to the 92% drop in the area allocated to summerfallow since 1976. The total loss of 3.1 million acres of farmland in Ontario since 1976 is due largely to the reduction in non-cropland as the area planted to crop rose by 4% in total from 1976 to 2016. These changes in total farmland and its mix are evident for all regions although the mix varies significantly. Counties in the southwestern portion of the province have over 75% of their total farmland allocated to growing crops whereas this is approximately 50% in the rest of the province. This percentage, although smaller than in the southwestern region, has also increased over time due to the drop in pasture, fallow, and woodlot/wetland area. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2019–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uguiwp:292272&r=all |
| By: | International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "A recent study (IPC-IG 2019) evaluates the coverage of Mozambique's National Food Fortification Programme (NFFP), its benefit reach across vulnerable groups and its contribution to the recommended nutrient intake (RNI) of micronutrients. The NFFP is a mandatory fortification programme of wheat and maize flour with iron, and of sugar and vegetable oil with vitamin A". (...) |
| Keywords: | Evaluation, coverage, benefit, incidences, food, fortification, Mozambique |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:419&r=all |
| By: | Ollinger, Michael; Guthrie, Joanne; Peo, Audrey |
| Abstract: | The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs are operated locally by school food authorities (SFAs), usually a part of the local school district. SFAs are reimbursed at nationally set rates for the cost of meals served to participating students. Previous USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) analysis found substantial variation in total costs across SFAs but did not identify the sources of those cost differences. This report examines food cost differences, using a large national sample of SFAs to examine how food purchase costs vary by SFA location, characteristics, and purchasing practices. Results show that food costs dropped with the volume of products purchased. Food costs also varied considerably across location—SFAs in the Northern Plains and Mountain regions had higher average food costs, and SFAs in the Southeast regions had the lowest food costs for major food groups. SFA purchasing practices also affected costs. Purchasing cooperatives, a popular strategy among SFAs, had mixed associations with food costs, possibly because SFAs may use them not only to reduce costs, but also for aims such as obtaining wider access to desired food products. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:291965&r=all |
| By: | Kuchler, Fred; Greene, Catherine; Bowman, Maria; Marshall, Kandice K.; Bovay, John; Lynch, Lori |
| Abstract: | Consumers are increasingly interested in farming methods and the nutritional quality of food. Manufacturers, in turn, are adding more information to food labels. In 1990, Congress passed two watershed laws on food labeling, one requiring nutrition labels to be included on most processed foods and the other requiring organic foods to meet a national uniform standard. This report examines the economic issues involved in five labels for which the Federal Government has played different roles in securing the information and making it transparent to consumers. In addition to the nutrition and organic labels, the report scrutinizes three other labels—one advertising foods made without genetically engineered ingredients, another advertising products made from animals raised without antibiotics, and the Federal country-of-origin label, which is now required for fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, some nuts, fish and shellfish, ginseng, and certain meats. As interest grows in process-based and other types of food labeling, findings from these five case studies illustrate the economic effects and tradeoffs in setting product standards, verifying claims, and enforcing truthfulness. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:291967&r=all |
| By: | Luana F. J. Swensson (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "Inclusive public food procurement initiatives are relevant policy instruments to support smallholder farmers and their integration into formal markets. They are based on the premise that public institutions, when using their procurement power to award contracts, can go beyond the immediate scope of simply responding to the states procurement needs by addressing additional social, environment or economic policy goals. Their implementation, however, requires a conducive public procurement regulatory framework". (...) |
| Keywords: | Public, food, procurement, support, smallholder, farming, importance, conducive, regulatory, framework |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:412&r=all |
| By: | Pan, Qianyao; Sumner, Daniel A.; Lapsley, James T. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291154&r=all |
| By: | Claire Richert (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - IRSTEA - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Katrin Erdlenbruch (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - IRSTEA - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier, CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Frédéric Grelot (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - IRSTEA - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | Floods can be managed at the collective and individual level. Knowing the interaction between measures taken at both scales can help design more efficient flood risk management policies. Here, we combine the data collected during a survey of 331 inhabitants of flood-prone areas in the South of France and spatial databases to empirically examine the interaction between individual adaptation measures and three types of collective management tools: a national insurance scheme, dikes, and zoning instruments. In line with the levee effect hypothesis, we found that dike protection reduces the probability to have or take individual adaptation measures and that this effect could be mitigated by zoning instruments. Moreover, we found that the national insurance scheme does not crowd out individual adaptation. |
| Keywords: | levee effect,zoning mechanism,insurance,Flood policies,Levee eect,Individual adaptation decisions,Zoning,Insurance JEL Classication: Q54,Q58 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02189117&r=all |
| By: | Li, Sheng; Guan, Zhengfei; Wu, Feng |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290727&r=all |
| By: | Thilo R. Huning; Fabian Wahl |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the origins of agricultural inheritance traditions. Our case study is the German state of Baden-Württemberg, for which we have data on 3,382 municipalities. It is the first to test systematically a wide array of prevalent hypotheses about the Roman, medieval, and early modern roots of inheritance traditions and their change during the industrialization period and the early 20th century. We also analyze data on village desertion, parts of which we can attribute to the lack of flexible adaption. We find that rural inheritance traditions are primarily determined by geographic factors, especially soil quality, but also Germanic traditions, pre-historical land-abundance, Roman activity and the rise of feudalism during the middle ages. The politics of particular states like Imperial cities or the Duchy of Württemberg also mattered. Change in inheritance practices occurring primarily after industrialization took-off was mainly driven by access to railways, increasing population concentration and imitation and social interactions with people from areas with other traditions. |
| Keywords: | Inheritance rules, Informal institutions, Property Rights, Baden-Württemberg |
| JEL: | D02 D82 H11 H21 N93 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:19/09&r=all |
| By: | Daigneault, Adam J.; Favero, Alice |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291126&r=all |
| By: | Shahzad, Muhammad Faisal; Abdulai, Awudu |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291283&r=all |
| By: | Moturi, Walter O.; Florkowski, Wojciech J. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290934&r=all |
| By: | Kim, Jongwoo; Mason, Nicole M. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291198&r=all |
| By: | Rick van der Ploeg; Armon Rezai |
| Abstract: | If global warming is to stay below 2°C, there are four risks of assets stranding. First, substantial fossil fuel reserves will be stranded at the end of the fossil era. Second, this will be true for exploration capital too. Third, unanticipated changes in present or expected future climate policy cause instantaneous discrete jumps in today’s valuation of physical and natural capital. Fourth, if timing and intensity of climate policy are uncertain, revaluation of assets occurs as uncertainty about future climate policy is resolved. E.g. abandoning climate policy plans immediately boosts scarcity rent, market capitalization, exploration investment and discoveries. To explain and quantify these four effects, we use an analytical model of investment in exploration capital with intertemporal adjustment costs, depletion of reserves and market capitalization, and calibrate it to the global oil and gas industry. Climate policy implements a carbon budget commensurate with 2°C peak warming and we allow for different instruments: immediate or delayed carbon taxes and renewable subsidies. The social welfare ranking of these instruments is inverse to that of the oil and gas industry which prefers renewable subsidy and delaying taxes for as long as possible. We also pay attention to how the legislative “risk” of tipping into policy action affects the timing of the end of the fossil era, the profitability of existing capital, and green paradox effects. |
| Keywords: | fossil fuel, exploration investment, discoveries, stranded carbon assets, stock prices, irreversible capital, adjustment costs, policy tipping, botched climate policies |
| JEL: | D20 D53 D92 G11 H32 Q02 Q38 Q54 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7769&r=all |
| By: | Ngango, Jules; Lee, Jungmyung; Kim, Seung Gyu |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291139&r=all |
| By: | Byun, Jung Woo; Yeon, Kwanghun; Han, Doo Bong |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290941&r=all |
| By: | Hu, Yue; Li, Minghao; Zhang, Wendong |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291063&r=all |
| By: | Arno Botha; Conrad Beyers; Pieter de Villiers |
| Abstract: | A new procedure is presented for the objective comparison and evaluation of default definitions. This allows the lender to find a default threshold at which the financial loss of a loan portfolio is minimised, in accordance with Basel II. Alternative delinquency measures, other than simply measuring payments in arrears, can also be evaluated using this optimisation procedure. Furthermore, a simulation study is performed in testing the procedure from `first principles' across a wide range of credit risk scenarios. Specifically, three probabilistic techniques are used to generate cash flows, while the parameters of each are varied, as part of the simulation study. The results show that loss minima can exist for a select range of credit risk profiles, which suggests that the loss optimisation of default thresholds can become a viable practice. The default decision is therefore framed anew as an optimisation problem in choosing a default threshold that is neither too early nor too late in loan life. These results also challenges current practices wherein default is pragmatically defined as `90 days past due', with little objective evidence for its overall suitability or financial impact, at least beyond flawed roll rate analyses or a regulator's decree. |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1907.12615&r=all |
| By: | Gregory, Christian A.; Mancino, Lisa; Coleman-Jensen, Alisha |
| Abstract: | This report characterizes the difference in food purchase quality of low-income food insecure and food-secure households using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), a unique data collection fielded by the USDA, Economic Research Service in partnership with the USDA, Food and Nutrition Service focused on household food purchase behavior. FoodAPS collected food acquisition and purchase data from 4,826 households over a single week between April 2012 and January 2013. The survey measured food insecurity using the 10-item, 30-day food security module, a series of questions that focus on behaviors and conditions related to adequate food supplies in the household. There are salient differences in overall quality of total food acquisitions, measured by the 2010 Healthy Eating Index score, purchased by food-secure and food-insecure households at or below 130 percent of the Federal poverty line. There are particularly important differences in total fruit, whole fruit, as well as total protein and seafood and plant protein foods purchased for these households. Moreover, food-insecure households spend less per adult equivalent on all food, but food at home in particular. Additionally, there are significant differences in dietary components not purchased or purchased in excess by these households: food-insecure households are much more likely to have no fruit, dairy, or protein, but large amounts of refined grains in their total purchase basket. Taking food spending and purchase quality into account, food-insecure households purchase about half of the fruit per adult equivalent and about three-fifths of the protein foods per adult equivalent in comparison with food-secure households. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:292269&r=all |
| By: | Schreier, Andrea; Coen, Amanda |
| Abstract: | Roads can have unintended effects on wildlife populations, such as causing direct mortality through animal collisions with cars, changing animal behaviors or distributions from traffic disturbance (e.g., noise, lighting), and fragmenting habitat. Roads may also act as barriers to wildlife movements, which prevents populations on either side from exchanging genes. Over time, wildlife populations isolated by barriers will lose genetic diversity, a process associated with an increased risk of extinction. To better understand this dynamic in Northern California, a studywas completed examining whether State Route 49 (SR 49), a road initially constructed during the Gold Rush era, acts as a barrier to movements of two similar species with different tolerances to human activity, the coyote and gray fox. This policy brief summarizes findings from that study and discusses the policy implications. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Life Sciences, Data analysis, Data collection, Genetics, Rural highways, Traffic volume, Wildlife, Wildlife crossings |
| Date: | 2017–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt8zg3222h&r=all |
| By: | Wallander, Steven; Claassen, Roger; Hill, Alexandra; Fooks, Jacob |
| Abstract: | Since 1996, USDA working lands programs have resulted in hundreds of thousands of conservation contracts—voluntary agreements between USDA and program participants. Within each contract, the participant agrees to install or implement a set of conservation practices, and USDA agrees to provide technical and financial assistance to the participant. The use of contracts is central to the programs because of the complexity of addressing conservation goals—many contracts have multiple practices—and because of the time lags involved in installing and implementing conservation practices. A large majority of practices on these contracts are installed as planned. This study examines data on the 10 to 20 percent of practices that participants who signed contracts in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in fiscal year 2010 did not implement as planned and dropped from their contracts. We find differences in the frequency with which specific practices are dropped, as well as in the likelihood that some types of contracts have at least one dropped practice. These differences suggest participants earn different levels of private benefits from installing or implementing conservation practices, which results in varying incentives to complete practices. Examining patterns in dropped practices reveals these private benefits, which are generally not known by program managers at the time participants sign conservation contracts. In this report, we discuss the significance of unobserved private incentives in possible policy design options—changes in ranking criteria, restrictions on contract structure, use of bundled practices at varied cost-share rates, and changes to costshare rates. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:291964&r=all |
| By: | Massimo Filippini (Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland; Institute of Economics (IdEP), Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland); Giuliano Masiero (Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering, University of Bergamo, Italy; Institute of Economics (IdEP), Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland); Sandro Steinbach (Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Ambient air pollution is the environmental factor with the most significant impact on human health. Several epidemiological studies provide evidence for an association between ambient air pollution and human health. However, the recent economic literature has challenged the identification strategy used in these studies. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion by investigating the association between ambient air pollution and morbidity using hospital admission data from Switzerland. Our identification strategy rests on the construction of geographically explicit pollution measures derived from a dispersion model that replicates atmospheric conditions and accounts for several emission sources. The reduced form estimates account for location and time fixed effects and show that ambient air pollution has a substantial impact on hospital admissions. In particular, we show that SO2 and NO2 are positively associated with admission rates for coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases while we find no similar correlation for PM10 and O3. Our robustness checks support these findings and suggest that dispersion models can help in reducing the measurement error inherent to pollution exposure measures based on station-level pollution data. Therefore, our results may contribute to a more accurate evaluation of future environmental policies aiming at a reduction of ambient air pollution exposure. |
| Keywords: | Ambient air pollution, dispersion model, hospital admissions, count panel data |
| JEL: | I10 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lug:wpidep:1903&r=all |
| By: | Ollinger, Michael E.; Page, Elina T.; Houser, Matt |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290953&r=all |
| By: | Sesmero, Juan Pablo; Bauchet, Jonathan |
| Keywords: | Resource/ Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291246&r=all |
| By: | Stevens, Andrew W.; Bradley, William B.; Knotts, William |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291175&r=all |
| By: | Bitler, Marianne; Beatty, Timothy; Van Der Werf, Cynthia |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290906&r=all |
| By: | Jia, Yanan; Hennessy, David A.; Feng, Hongli |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290726&r=all |
| By: | Songsermsawas, Tisorn; Kafle, Kashi |
| Keywords: | International Development |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291040&r=all |
| By: | Mihiar, Chris; Lewis, David |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291130&r=all |
| By: | Pates, Nicholas J.; Hendricks, Nathan P.; Lark, Tyler |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291138&r=all |
| By: | Paudel, Jayash; Crago, Christine L. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291119&r=all |
| By: | Wu, Linghui; Atallah, Shadi S. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291110&r=all |
| By: | Perez-Quesada, Gabriela; Hendricks, Nathan P. |
| Keywords: | Resource/ Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291224&r=all |
| By: | Hall, David C.; Rasmussen, Philip |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290704&r=all |
| By: | Jorge Alvarez; Claudia Berg |
| Abstract: | A large share of cross-country differences in productivity is explained by differences in agricultural productivity. Using a combination of sub-national agricultural statistics and geospatial datasets on crop-specific potential yields, we study the main drivers of this variation from a macroeconomic perspective. We find that differences in geographically-induced crop-specific comparative advantages can explain a substantial share of the variation in yields across the world. Data reveal substantial gaps between potential and observed yields in most countries. When decomposing these within country gaps, we find that crop selection gaps are on average larger than those induced by input usage alone. The results highlight the importance of understanding the interaction of geography and crop selection drivers in assessing aggregate agricultural productivity differences. |
| Date: | 2019–08–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:19/179&r=all |
| By: | Lu, Pin; Wu, Kaidi |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291271&r=all |
| By: | Schneider, Kate; Masters, William A. |
| Keywords: | International Development |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291025&r=all |
| By: | Cho, Seong-Hoon; Sharma, Bijay P. |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291268&r=all |
| By: | Yang, Bixuan; Asche, Frank; Anderson, James L. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291085&r=all |
| By: | You, Jing; Cui, Yi; Ma, Jiujie |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291094&r=all |
| By: | Chen, Bowen; Villoria, Nelson B. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291084&r=all |
| By: | Roberts, Amber R.; Hadrich, Joleen C.; Bellemare, Marc F. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290722&r=all |
| By: | Cynthia Kinnan |
| Abstract: | Informal insurance is an important risk-coping mechanism in developing countries, yet this risk sharing is incomplete. Models of limited commitment, moral hazard, and hidden income have been proposed to explain incomplete informal insurance. This paper shows that the way in which history matters in forecasting consumption can be used to distinguish hidden income from limited commitment and moral hazard. The paper also develops a non-parametric test, based on over-identifying restrictions, that can test across models in the presence of nonclassical measurement error and individual-level heterogeneity. In panel data from rural Thailand, limited commitment and moral hazard are rejected. The predictions of the hidden income model are supported by the data. |
| JEL: | D82 D91 O12 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tuf:tuftec:0831&r=all |
| By: | Yang, Meng; Qiu, Feng |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290772&r=all |
| By: | Benonnier, Theo; Millock, Katrin; Taraz, Vis P. |
| Keywords: | International Development |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291028&r=all |
| By: | Grant, Kara R.; Gallardo, Karina; McCluskey, Jill J. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290794&r=all |
| By: | Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Balasubramanya, Soumya |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291315&r=all |
| By: | Ruml, Anette; Qaim, Matin |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291286&r=all |
| By: | Chen, Kuan-Ju; Chi, Ting; Marsh, Thomas L. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291188&r=all |
| By: | Ariel Soto-Caro; Feng Wu; Zhengfei Guan |
| Abstract: | Farmers use pesticides to reduce yield losses. The efficacies of pesticide treatments are often evaluated by analyzing the average treatment effects and risks. The stochastic efficiency with respect to a function is often employed in such evaluations through ranking the certainty equivalents of each treatment. The main challenge of using this method is gathering an adequate number of observations to produce results with statistical power. However, in many cases, only a limited number of trials are replicated in field experiments, leaving an inadequate number of observations. In addition, this method focuses only on the farmer's profit without incorporating the impact of disease pressure on yield and profit. The objective of our study is to propose a methodology to address the issue of an insufficient number of observations using simulations and take into account the effect of disease pressure on yield through a quantile regression model. We apply this method to the case of strawberry disease management in Florida. |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1908.01808&r=all |
| By: | Sampson, Gabriel; Perry, Edward; Taylor, Mykel R. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290810&r=all |
| By: | Ge, Houtian; Gomez, Miguel I.; Peters, Christian |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290716&r=all |
| By: | Melkani, Aakanksha; Mason, Nicole M.; Chisanga, Brian |
| Keywords: | Marketing |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290853&r=all |
| By: | Schmidt, Claudia; Tian, Zheng; Goetz, Stephan J. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291304&r=all |
| By: | Schultz, Alexander J.; Ifft, Jennifer E.; Kuethe, Todd H. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290743&r=all |
| By: | Ghazaryan, Armen; Bonanno, Alessandro; Cho, Clare |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290917&r=all |