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NEP: New Economics Papers
Agricultural Economics
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Edited by: Angelo Zago
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pza49.html
Universita degli Studi di Verona
Date: 2005-08-13
Papers: 13
This document is in the public domain, feel free to circulate it.
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In this issue we have:
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1. The Impact on Farmers of the Privatization of Integrated
Agricultural Monopsonies
Paul Makdissi; Quentin Wodon
2. Dairy Food Consumption, Production, and Policy in Japan
Campo, Isabelle Schluep; Beghin, John C.
3. Determinants of Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Livelihood
Strategies in Rural Communities: Evidence from Eastern Nigeria
A. Bongo Adi
4. Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2005 Survey
Edwards, William M.; Smith, Darnell
5. Farm Productivity and Market Structure. Evidence From Cotton
Reforms in Zambia
Irene Brambilla; Guido G. Porto
6. Comparing the Stock Market and Iowa Land Values: A Question
of Timing
Duffy, Michael
7. Doha Merchandise Trade Reform: What?s at Stake for
Developing Countries?
Anderson, Kym; Martin, Will; van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique
8. Price Liberalization and Farmer Welfare Under Risk Aversion:
Cotton in Benin and Ivory Coast
Paul MAKDISSI; Quentin WODON
9. How Substitutable is Natural Capital?
Anil Markandya; S. Pedroso
10. Optimal Pest Control in Agriculture
Thomas Christiaans; Thomas Eichner; R?diger Pethig
11. Dynamics of Biotechnology Research and Industry in India:
Statistics, Perspectives and Key Policy Issues
Sachin Chaturvedi
12. Land, Violent Conflict and Development
Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecomte Henri-Bernard Solignac
Lecomte Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecomte; Nicolas Pons-Vignon
13. The Willingness to Pay for Preventing Environmental Damage
Benno Torgler; Maria A. Garcia-Vali?as
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1. The Impact on Farmers of the Privatization of Integrated
Agricultural Monopsonies
Paul Makdissi (D?partement d'?conomique, Universit? de
Sherbrooke)
Quentin Wodon (AFTPM, World Bank)
International Financial Institutions have advocated the
privatization of integrated agricultural monopsonies in
developing countries with the hope that competition between
private firms under a contract farming system would reduce
inefficiencies in production and enable farmers to obtain a
higher share of world commodity prices. \ Using a very simple
theoretical model, this paper shows however that the impact of
privatization and contract farming may not be positive for all
farmers.
Keywords: Privatization, Cotton, Africa, Welfare
JEL: O13 L1 D42
Date: 2001
Date: 2004
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shr:wpaper:04-08&r=agr
2. Dairy Food Consumption, Production, and Policy in Japan
Campo, Isabelle Schluep
Beghin, John C.
We explore and investigate Japanese dairy markets. We first
provide an overview of consumer demand and how it evolved after
World War II. Using historical data and econometric estimates of
Japanese dairy demand, we identify economic, cultural, and
demographic forces that have been shaping consumption patterns.
Then we summarize the characteristics of Japanese milk production
and dairy processing and policies affecting them. We next
describe the import regime and trade flows in dairy products. The
analysis of the regulatory system of the dairy sector shows how
its incentive structure affects the long-term prospects of
various segments of the industry. The paper concludes with policy
recommendations of how to reform the Japanese dairy sector.
Keywords: consumption, dairy, Japan, milk, policy, trade.
Date: 2005-08-03
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12406&r=agr
3. Determinants of Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Livelihood
Strategies in Rural Communities: Evidence from Eastern Nigeria
A. Bongo Adi (Regional Economic Development, Appropriate
Technology & Sciences for Sustainable Development,
University of Tsukuba, Japan)
Using primary survey data from two agro-ecologically distinct
rural communities in eastern Nigeria, this paper examines the
determinants of livelihood diversification away from agriculture
as well as the manner in which different agro-ecological
determinants affect such diversification. The probability of
participating in non-agricultural activities was estimated in an
endogeneity-controlled, two-step probit model employing data on
household assets, demographics, human capital, as well as a proxy
for differences in agro-ecology. Results show that not many
households remain undiversified as they combine activities within
farming, commerce, skilled non-farm and low skilled non-farm
sectors. Both human capital and the agro-climactic variables were
found to determine the nature of diversification. Against the
backdrop of the recent deagrarianisation thesis, the study found
that despite high incidence of diversification, agriculture is
not in any significant decline. Policies thus should be aimed at
both agricultural and non- agricultural activities. Policies
based on the assumption that agriculture is no longer relevant
will hurt farming and retard development.
Keywords: Diversification, Livelihood strategies, subsistence
agriculture, agro-ecology, south-eastern Nigeria.
JEL: D1 D2 D3 D4
Date: 2005-08-02
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpmi:0508001&r=agr
4. Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2005 Survey
Edwards, William M.
Smith, Darnell
Date: 2005-07-25
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12400&r=agr
5. Farm Productivity and Market Structure. Evidence From Cotton
Reforms in Zambia
Irene Brambilla (Economic Growth Center, Yale University)
Guido G. Porto (The World Bank)
This paper investigates the impacts of cotton marketing reforms
on farm productivity, a key element for poverty alleviation, in
rural Zambia. The reforms comprised the elimination of the
Zambian cotton marketing board that was in place since 1977.
Following liberalization, the sector adopted an outgrower scheme,
whereby firms provided extension services to farmers and sold
inputs on loans that were repaid at the time of harvest. There
are two distinctive phases of the reforms: a failure of the
outgrower scheme, and a subsequent period of success of the
scheme. Our findings indicate that the reforms led to interesting
dynamics in cotton farming. During the phase of failure, farmers
were pushed back into subsistence and productivity in cotton
declined. With the improvement of the outgrower scheme of later
years, farmers devoted larger shares of land to cash crops, and
farm productivity significantly increased.
Keywords: cotton marketing reforms, farm productivity
JEL: O12 O13 Q12 Q18
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egc:wpaper:919&r=agr
6. Comparing the Stock Market and Iowa Land Values: A Question
of Timing
Duffy, Michael
Recent increases in Iowa farmland values and the turbulence in
the stock market have resurrected a perennial question. Which is
a better investment?the stock market or farmland?
Date: 2005-07-25
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12401&r=agr
7. Doha Merchandise Trade Reform: What?s at Stake for
Developing Countries?
Anderson, Kym
Martin, Will
van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique
This paper provides new estimates of the global gains from
multilateral trade reform and their distribution among developing
countries in the presence of trade preferences. Particular
attention is given to agriculture, as farmers constitute the
poorest households in developing countries but the most assisted
in rich countries. The latest GTAP database (Version 6.05) and
the World Bank?s LINKAGE model of the global economy are
employed to examine the impact first of current merchandise trade
barriers and agricultural subsidies, and then of possible reform
outcomes from the WTO?s Doha Development Agenda. The results
suggest moving to free global merchandise trade would boost real
incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa proportionately more than in other
developing countries or high-income countries, despite a terms of
trade loss in parts of that region. Net farm incomes would all
rise substantially in that and other developing country regions,
thereby alleviating rural poverty. A Doha partial liberalization
could move the world some way towards those desirable outcomes,
but more so the more developing countries themselves cut applied
tariffs, particularly on agricultural imports.
Keywords: computable general equilibrium; developing countries;
multilateral negotiations; trade policy reform; WTO
JEL: C68 D58 F13 F17 Q17
Date: 2005-07
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5156&r=agr
8. Price Liberalization and Farmer Welfare Under Risk Aversion:
Cotton in Benin and Ivory Coast
Paul MAKDISSI (D?epartement d??economique and CEREF,
Universit?e de Sherbrooke, 2550 boulevard de
l?Universit?e, Sherbrooke, Qu?bec, Canada, J1K 2R1)
Quentin WODON (LCSPR, World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20433, USA)
Commodity producers in Africa often bene?t from guaranteed and
relatively stable prices for their crops. This paper shows how to
estimate the required increase in crop price necessary to o?set
the higher risk for farmers that price liberalization would
entail due to large variations over time in world commodity
prices.
Keywords: Cotton, Price liberalization, Risk Aversion, Poverty,
Benin, Ivory Coast.
JEL: D81 D63 I30 O13
Date: 2004
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shr:wpaper:04-09&r=agr
9. How Substitutable is Natural Capital?
Anil Markandya (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, World Bank and
University of Bath)
S. Pedroso (World Bank)
One of the recurring themes in the sustainability literature has
been the legitimacy of using an economic framework to account for
natural resources. This paper examines the potential for
substituting between different inputs in the generation of income,
where the inputs include natural resources such as land and
energy resources. A nested CES production function is used to
allow flexibility in the estimated elasticities of substitution.
Also, with this specification, natural resources and other inputs
are combined in different levels of the function, thus allowing
for different levels of substitutability. Institutional and
economic indicators are also incorporated in the production
function estimated. Results show that the elasticities derived
from functions involving land resources were generally around one
or greater. Furthermore, changes in trade openness and private
sector investment have a statistically significant and direct
relationship with income generation. No statistically significant
relationship between income and any of the institutional
indicators was found.
Keywords: Wealth accounting, Natural resources, Nested CES
production function
JEL: O47 Q24 Q32
Date: 2005-06
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.88&r=agr
10. Optimal Pest Control in Agriculture
Thomas Christiaans
Thomas Eichner
R?diger Pethig
Based on economic methodology we model an ecosystem with two
species in predator-prey relationship: mice feed on grain and
grain feeds on a resource. With optimizing behaviour of
individual organisms a short-run ecosystem equilibrium is defined
and characterized that depends on the farmer?s use of
fertilizer and on the mice population which, in turn, is affected
by pesticides. In that way, a microfounded agricultural
production function is derived. Linking a sequence of short-run
ecosystem equilibria yields the growth function of the mice
population which is thus derived rather than assumed. In each
period the farmer harvests all grain in excess of some given
amount of seed. If she maximizes her present-value profits,
optimal farming is shown to depend on the prices of pesticide and
grain. It is either optimal to use no pesticide or a moderate
amount of pesticide or to apply a chattering control. Pest
eradication is never optimal. On the other hand, if the farmer
takes into account steady state mice populations only, it may be
optimal to eradicate mice or to use no or a moderate amount of
pesticide depending on prices as well as on the shape of the
grain production function which is determined by micro parameters
of grain reproduction.
Keywords: pesticides, agriculture, predator-prey, chattering
pest control
JEL: Q24 Q57
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1507&r=agr
11. Dynamics of Biotechnology Research and Industry in India:
Statistics, Perspectives and Key Policy Issues
Sachin Chaturvedi
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, an inventory is
made of biotechnology data collection in India. This will include
an assessment of how the need for biotechnology related
statistics is being addressed, mainly in terms of patent data,
commercialisation of genetically modified organisms, R&D
allocations for biotechnology and industry statistics. In general,
limited efforts have been made by different Indian agencies to
collect statistics on biotechnology. One of the reasons for this
scarcity of statistics is a missing consensus in India on a
definition of biotechnology. However, initiatives are underway to
address this and to establish a measurement framework. A second
objective of this document is to present a broad overview of the
status of biotechnology in India, with a focus on the
agricultural and the health sector. First the funding and
research programmes of various institutions are discussed,
followed by an overview of human resources development and
training possibilities in the country. A third section discusses
capital venture funding and the role of financial institutions,
while the last two sections look at initiatives by state
governments and the policy regulations in place. <P>Dynamique de
la recherche et de l'industrie biotechnologiques en Inde Cet
ouvrage r?pond ? un double objectif. Il vise tout d?abord ?
faire le point sur la collecte des donn?es relatives aux
biotechnologies en Inde, notamment ? travers une ?valuation des
solutions apport?es aux besoins de statistiques dans les
domaines suivants : brevets, commercialisation d?organismes
g?n?tiquement modifi?s, cr?dits de R-D consacr?s aux
statistiques des biotechnologies et de l?industrie. Les
diff?rentes instances indiennes concern?es ont en g?n?ral
relativement peu investi dans la collecte de statistiques, entre
autres parce qu?il n?existe en Inde aucun consensus sur la
d?finition des biotechnologies. Des initiatives ont toutefois
?t? engag?es dans le but d?y rem?dier et d??tablir un
cadre d?analyse. Cette publication a par ailleurs pour ambition
de pr?senter un vaste panorama des biotechnologies en Inde, en
privil?giant plus particuli?rement les secteurs de
l?agriculture et de la sant?. Sont tout d?abord d?crits les
dispositifs de financement et les programmes de recherche de
diverses institutions, puis est pr?sent? un tour d?horizon
des perspectives de d?veloppement des ressources humaines et de
formation. Une troisi?me section est consacr?e ? l?analyse
du financement du capital-risque et du r?le des institutions
financi?res, tandis que les deux derni?res sections passent en
revue les actions engag?es par les autorit?s publiques des
Etats et les r?glementations en place.
Date: 2005-05-31
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2005/6-en&r=agr
12. Land, Violent Conflict and Development
Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecomte Henri-Bernard Solignac
Lecomte Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecomte
Nicolas Pons-Vignon
<P>Land dynamics are context specific and rapidly changing, and
conflicts related to them do not systematically escalate into
violence. One way of framing the discussion is to consider change
in the structures of power governing the management of resources
in rural areas as necessary to achieve greater efficiency and
equity. Since such change will be opposed by beneficiaries of the
system in place, the transformation of agriculture is bound to be
marred by conflicts of various intensity levels. At the heart of
these conflicts lies land because of its very high material
<I>and</I> symbolic values. Evidence shows that (a) whether they
result from pre-existing agrarian tensions or not, conflict
situations in rural societies deeply affect the politics of land,
and (b) whether it is at the heart of a conflict or gets dragged
into it, land requires a careful approach by policy makers
because it is a central element in the evolution of societies. As
a result, policies pertaining to land can ...</P> <P>Les
dynamiques fonci?res sont en mutation permanente et
s?inscrivent dans des contextes sp?cifiques. S?il est vrai
qu?elles provoquent des conflits, ceux-ci ne deviennent pas
syst?matiquement violents. Pour mieux comprendre les liens entre
terre et conflit, on peut s?int?resser aux structures de
pouvoir qui gouvernent la gestion des ressources naturelles :
leur transformation est en effet une ?tape n?cessaire ?
l?am?lioration de l?efficacit? ?conomique de
l?agriculture et ? la r?duction des in?galit?s. Parce
qu?elle menace les int?r?ts dominants, une telle
transformation provoque toujours des conflits d?intensit?
variable. Or la question fonci?re est au coeur de ces conflits,
? cause des valeurs ?conomique et symbolique attach?es ? la
terre. A cet ?gard, deux enseignements peuvent ?tre retenus :
d?une part, quelle que soit leur origine, les conflits dans les
soci?t?s rurales affectent profond?ment les syst?mes fonciers
d?autre part, qu?elles soient ? l?origine du conflit ou .
.</P>
Date: 2004-02
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:devaaa:233-en&r=agr
13. The Willingness to Pay for Preventing Environmental Damage
Benno Torgler
Maria A. Garcia-Vali?as
Since the 70s, an increasing number of studies investigating
environmental preferences have been made. However, papers related
to a country and its regions or its development over time are
still largely lacking, although it is a promising line to search
empirically for factors that have been strongly neglected in
previous studies. This paper therefore aims at reducing such
shortcomings, and analyzes the willingness to pay (WTP) in Spain
and its regions for the periods 1990, 1995 and 1999/2000, with
data from the World Values Surveys and the European Values
Surveys. The results indicate strong regional differences and
strong differences between the first and the second half of the
90s. This paper also shows the relevance of strongly neglected
variables such as political interest and social capital.
Keywords: Environment; Willingness to Pay; Regional and Time
Preferences; Political Interest; Social Capital
JEL: Q26 R22 Z13 I21
Date: 2005-07
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2005-22&r=agr
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