----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEP: New Economics Papers
Agricultural Economics
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by: Angelo Zago
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pza49.html
Universita degli Studi di Verona
Date: 2006-04-01
Papers: 7
This document is in the public domain, feel free to circulate it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Note: Access to full contents may be restricted +
+ NEP is sponsored by SUNY Oswego +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In this issue we have:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Grading, Minimum Quality Standards, and the Labeling of
Genetically Modified Products
Moschini, GianCarlo; Lapan, Harvey E.
2. Legal knowledge and economic development : the case of land
rights in Uganda
Yamano, Takashi; Ayalew, Daniel; Deininger, Klaus
3. Voluntary environmental approaches in French wine growing: a
variety of adhesion factors (In French)
BELIS-BERGOUIGNAN Marie-Claude (E3i-IFReDE-GRES); CAZALS
Clarisse (E3i-IFReDE-GRES)
4. The Return to Capital in Ghana
Christopher Udry; Santosh Anagol
5. Does rising landlessness signal success or failure for
Vietnam?s agrarian transition?
van de Walle, Dominique; Ravallion, Martin
6. Intellectual Property Rights and Biotechnology: How to
improve the present patent system
Ignazio Musu
7. Auctioning Conservation Contracts: An Application to the
Flemish Afforestation Policy
Rousseau Sandra; Moons Ellen
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Grading, Minimum Quality Standards, and the Labeling of
Genetically Modified Products
Moschini, GianCarlo
Lapan, Harvey E.
In this paper we relate the economics of labeling genetically
modified (GM) products to the theory of grading and minimum
quality standards. The model represents three stages in the
supply chain (farm production, marketing handlers, and final
users) and allows explicitly for the accidental co-mingling of
non-GM products at the marketing stage. Regulation takes the form
of a threshold level of purity for non-GM products. The paper
also presents a novel demand specification for differentiated GM
and non-GM products that is particularly useful in our stochastic
framework. First, we find that if the threshold purity level for
non-GM products is too strict, this necessarily leads to the
disappearance of non-GM product from the market. Second, we show
that some quality standard is in the interest of farmers as well.
Indeed, we show that the standard that is optimal from the
perspective of producers is actually stricter than what is
optimal for consumers and for societal welfare. We conclude with
comparative statics effects that illustrate the impact of the
model?s parameters on market equilibrium and on the
welfaremaximizing regulatory standard.
Keywords: biotechnology, grading, identity preservation, food
labeling, minimum quality standards, regulation,
uncertainty.
JEL: L5 O3 Q1
Date: 2006-03-23
URL: http://d.repec.or
g/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12553&r=agr
2. Legal knowledge and economic development : the case of land
rights in Uganda
Yamano, Takashi
Ayalew, Daniel
Deininger, Klaus
Mixed evidence on the impact of formal title in much of Africa
is often used to question the relevance of dealing with land
policy issues in this continent. The authors use data from Uganda
to assess the impact of a disaggregated set of rights on
investment, productivity, and land values, and to test the
hypothesis that individuals ' lack of knowledge of the new law
reduces their tenure security. Results point toward strong and
positive effects of greater tenure security and transferability.
Use of exogenous knowledge of its provisions as a proxy for the
value of the land law suggests that this piece of legislation had
major economic benefits that remain to be fully realized.
Keywords: Municipal Housing and Land,Real Estate Development,
Agricultural Knowledge & Information Systems,Rural Land
Policies for Poverty Reduction,Land Use and Policies
Date: 2006-03-01
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3868&r=agr
3. Voluntary environmental approaches in French wine growing: a
variety of adhesion factors (In French)
BELIS-BERGOUIGNAN Marie-Claude (E3i-IFReDE-GRES)
CAZALS Clarisse (E3i-IFReDE-GRES)
One main environmental issue in wine growing is the non point
source pollution of underground water by excessive use of
pesticides. The aim of our paper is to present the diversity of
voluntary environmental approaches (VEA) .We explain this
diversity by the different values that suppose the actors
submission to rules and standards, which determine adhesion
factors. The analysis is empirically based on original survey
conducted towards a sample of more than 1500 wine producers. In a
first part, we show that there are two VEA standard models in
wine growing: integrated production and organic production. In a
second part, we specify these two standard models by different
motivation criteria (controlling factor). In organic farming, the
relationships with nature are important whereas economic factor
determine the choice of integrated farming.
Keywords: Non point source pollution - Integrated farming -
Organic farming - Organized proximity - Wine growing -
Adhesion factors- Voluntary Environmental Approaches
JEL: Q13 Q25 Q53
Date: 2006
URL: http://d.repec.
org/n?u=RePEc:grs:wpegrs:2006-11&r=agr
4. The Return to Capital in Ghana
Christopher Udry (Economic Growth Center, Yale University)
Santosh Anagol (Yale University)
We show that the real return to capital in Ghana's informal
sector is high. For farmers, we find annual returns ranging from
205-350% in the new technology of pineapple cultivation, and 30-
50% in well-established food crop cultivation. We also examine
the relative prices of durable goods of varying durability, and
estimate a lower bound to the opportunity cost of capital of 60%.
Keywords: Capital, durable goods, credit markets
JEL: O12 O16 D24
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:egc:wpaper:932&r=agr
5. Does rising landlessness signal success or failure for
Vietnam?s agrarian transition?
van de Walle, Dominique
Ravallion, Martin
In the wake of reforms to establish a free market in land-use
rights, Vietnam is experiencing a pronounced rise in rural
landlessness. To some observers this is a harmless by-product of
a more efficient economy, while to others it signals the return
of the pre-socialist class-structure, with the rural landless at
the bottom of the economic ladder. The authors ' theoretical
model suggests that removing restrictions on land markets will
increase landlessness among the poor, but that there will be both
gainers and losers, with uncertain impacts on aggregate poverty.
Empirically, they find that landlessness is less likely for the
poor and that the observed rise in landlessness is poverty
reducing on balance. However, there are marked regional
differences, notably between the north and the south.
Keywords: Land Use and Policies,Rural Land Policies for Poverty
Reduction,Rural Poverty Reduction,Rural Development
Knowledge & Information Systems,Climate Change
Date: 2006-04-01
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3871&r=agr
6. Intellectual Property Rights and Biotechnology: How to
improve the present patent system
Ignazio Musu (Department of Economics, University of Venice
"Ca' Foscari")
The paper discusses two types of problems related to assigning
or denying intellectual property rights to agro-biotechnological
innovations in the relation between developed and developing
countries. First, protecting property rights on innovations
creates incentives towards further research and innovation, which
in some cases may be beneficial to society, in others not so. If
the assigning of the right does not guarantee the potential
beneficial use of the innovation, not assigning rights would not
prevent its potentially dangerous utilization. Secondly, the
power of exclusion of the holder of an intellectual property
right limits access to the newly produced knowledge: this may
discourage the process of producing new knowledge, harming
developing countries. Moreover the property right holder may end
up with excessive market power when commercializing the
innovation, which is also harmful to developing countries. It is
shown that these problems cannot be solved by denying protection
to property rights on innovations, but by improving procedures
for awarding these rights and accompanying them with appropriate
liability rules and antitrust measures.
Keywords: Intellectual property rights, Biotechnology, Patent
system
JEL: O30 O33 O34
Date: 2006
Date: 2006
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:0106&r=agr
7. Auctioning Conservation Contracts: An Application to the
Flemish Afforestation Policy
Rousseau Sandra (K.U.Leuven-Center for Economic Studies)
Moons Ellen (K.U.Leuven-Center for Economic Studies)
This paper studies the possibility of using auctions as a policy
instrument in conservation programs. In particular, it provides
insight into the main concerns that need to be dealt with when
implementing conservation auctions. To show the cost saving
potential of this policy instrument, we also calculate the social
welfare improvement that can be obtained for an afforestation
project in Flanders. Creation-Date: 2006-03
Keywords: Auctions; Conservation contracts; Afforestation
URL: http://d.repec.
org/n?u=RePEc:ete:etewps:ete0606&r=agr
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/nep-agr/attachments/20060411/b02cad42/attachment.htm
FarmToday, The Internet Home for Today's Farmers.. (sm)
Copyright © 2008 Creative Business Concepts
All Rights Reserved
|
