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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: 2006-12-16
Papers: 11
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. Agriculture, Diffusion,and Development: Ripple Effects of the
Neolithic Revolutions
Louis Putterman
2. Intra-Industry Trade, Multilateral Trade Integration, and
Invasive Species Risk
Tu, Anh T.; Beghin, John C.
3. Nontariff Barriers
Beghin, John C.
4. Fairness in Urban Land Use: An Evolutionary Contribution to
Law & Economics
Christian Schubert
5. Honesty of Signaling and Pollinator Attraction: The Case of
Flag-Like Bracts
Tamar Keasar; Gad Pollak; Rachel Arnon; Dan Cohen; Avi
Shmida
6. The Effect of Monetary Policy on Real Commodity Prices
Jeffrey A. Frankel
7. Rural Development, Environmental Sustainability, and Poverty
Alleviation: A Critique of Current Paradigms
Susanne D. Mueller
8. Aid and Economic Development in Africa
Bigsten, Arne
9. Development and Social Goals: Balancing Aid and Development
to Prevent ?Welfare Colonialism?
Erik S. Reinert
10. D?veloppement rural et environnement
Matilde Alonso
11. Collective penalties and inducement of self-reporting
Katrin Millock; David Zilberman
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1. Agriculture, Diffusion,and Development: Ripple Effects of the
Neolithic Revolutions
Louis Putterman
Date: 2006
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2006-19&r=agr
2. Intra-Industry Trade, Multilateral Trade Integration, and
Invasive Species Risk
Tu, Anh T.
Beghin, John C.
We analyze the linkage between protectionism and invasive
species (IS) hazard in the context of two-way trade and
multilateral trade integration, two major features of real-world
agricultural trade. Multilateral integration includes the joint
reduction of tariffs and trade costs among trading partners.
Multilateral trade integration is more likely to increase damages
from IS than predicted by unilateral trade opening under the
classic Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) framework because
domestic production (the base susceptible to damages) is likely
to increase with expanding export markets. A country integrating
its trade with a partner characterized by relatively higher
tariff and trade costs is also more likely to experience
increased IS damages via expanded domestic production for the
same reason. We illustrate our analytical results with a stylized
model of the world wheat market.
Keywords: exotic pest, intra-industry trade, invasive species,
liberalization, trade cost, trade integration, trade
protection, two-way trade.
Date: 2006-12-11
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12705&r=agr
3. Nontariff Barriers
Beghin, John C.
Nontariff barriers (NTBs) refer to the wide range of policy
interventions other than border tariffs that affect trade of
goods, services, and factors of production. Most taxonomies of
NTBs include market-specific trade and domestic policies
affecting trade in that market. Extended taxonomies include macro-
economic policies affecting trade. NTBs have gained importance as
tariff levels have been reduced worldwide. Common measures of
NTBs include tariff-equivalents of the NTB policy or policies and
count and frequency measures of NTBs. These NTB measures are
subsequently used in various trade models, including gravity
equations, to assess trade and/or welfare effects of the measured
NTBs.
Keywords: externality and trade, nontariff barrier, NTB,
protectionism, sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS,
standards, TBT, technical barrier to trade.
Date: 2006-12-08
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12703&r=agr
4. Fairness in Urban Land Use: An Evolutionary Contribution to
Law & Economics
Christian Schubert
Markets for complex, multi-faceted goods normally require a
complex institutional framework to function properly, i.e., to
lead to patterns of outcomes that are deemed acceptable by the
individuals involved. This paper examines the institutional
underpinnings of the market for urban land use rights, taking
both German and U.S. public and private land use law as a case in
point. Apart from efficiency considerations that have been
discussed in the literature, the individuals' preferences
regarding the fairness of (i) the contents of urban land use
rights and (ii) the distribution of costs and benefits induced by
innovative land uses have been largely neglected. It is argued
that investigating the impact of these preferences (and the
underlying informal fairness norms) on the legal treatment of
land use rights provides a key opportunity to construct an
alternative Law & Economics approach that is compatible with an
evolutionary perspective on economic land use decisions.
Keywords: externalities, takings, land use law, distributive
fairness, procedural fairness
JEL: K11 R13 R14
Date: 2006-12
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2005-22&r=agr
5. Honesty of Signaling and Pollinator Attraction: The Case of
Flag-Like Bracts
Tamar Keasar
Gad Pollak
Rachel Arnon
Dan Cohen
Avi Shmida
Bracts are nonfloral showy structures associated with
inflorescences. They are generally hypothesized to enhance plant
reproductive success by attracting pollinating insects. We
investigated whether flag-like bracts at the top of
inflorescences reliably signal of floral food reward for
pollinators in Salvia viridis L. Field and greenhouse data
indicate incomplete synchrony between the development of flowers
and bracts. Various measures of bract size, however, positively
correlate with the number of open flowers on the inflorescence,
and with their nectar rewards. Experimental removal of bracts
from inflorescences significantly reduced honeybee visitation in
the field. We compared these findings with field data on
Lavandula stoechas L., another labiate species with flag-like
displays. The number of open flowers in L. stoechas cannot be
reliably predicted from the presence or size of the bracts. Bract
clipping does not significantly reduce honeybee visits in this
species. We conjecture that bees learn to orient to those bracts
that reliably signal food rewards, and disregard bracts if they
provide unreliable signals. Asynchronous development of bracts
and floral rewards can reduce the reliability of the signals, and
may explain the rarity of flag-like displays in pollination
systems. We discuss additional selective forces that may favor
bract displays.
Keywords: Flag-Like Bract; Extra-Floral Display; Pollination
Ecology; Signaling; Honeybee; Phenology; Lavandula;
Salvia
Date: 2006-12
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:huj:dispap:dp438&r=agr
6. The Effect of Monetary Policy on Real Commodity Prices
Jeffrey A. Frankel
Commodity prices are back. This paper looks at connections
between monetary policy, and agricultural and mineral commodities.
We begin with the monetary influences on commodity prices, first
for a large country such as the United States, then smaller
countries. The claim is that low real interest rates lead to high
real commodity prices. The theory is an analogy with Dornbusch
overshooting. The relationship between real interest rates and
real commodity prices is also supported empirically. One channel
through which this effect is accomplished is a negative effect of
interest rates on the desire to carry commodity inventories. The
paper concludes with a consideration of implications for monetary
policy.
JEL: E4 E5 F3 Q0
Date: 2006-12
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12713&r=agr
7. Rural Development, Environmental Sustainability, and Poverty
Alleviation: A Critique of Current Paradigms
Susanne D. Mueller
Donors have developed new micro-level and local paradigms to
address rural development, environmental sustainability, and
poverty alleviation to bypass, ignore, and substitute for badly
functioning and corrupt states. Yet, states still set the macro-
economic, legal, and policy parameters or ?rules of the game?
within which other entities operate, and many non-state actors
are only nominally independent. Hence, technical initiatives
stemming from these paradigms, aimed at growth and equity are
often theoretically misconceived and tend to fail when
implemented. The paper critically discusses the new paradigms,
including decentralization, civil society, microentrepreneurship,
and capacity building, among others, mainly using African
examples.
Keywords: economic development, formal and informal and
insitutional arrangements, development planning and
policy, economic development, regional urban and rural
analyses, formal and informal sectors, institutional
arrangements, institutional linkages to development.
JEL: O10 O17 O20 O18 O19
Date: 2006-01
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:11&r=agr
8. Aid and Economic Development in Africa
Bigsten, Arne (Department of Economics, School of Business,
Economics and Law, G?teborg University)
The question discussed in this in this paper is whether foreign
aid can help accelerate growth in African countries. The paper
reviews growth determinants and growth constraints in Africa and
discusses how aid can help relieve the constraints. Issues
covered are the choice of aid modalities, donor coordination,
conditionality, and international integration. A key question
addressed is how aid should be organised not to overburden the
recipient system and to provide incentives for policy makers to
perform. The paper also touches upon the need for international
trade reforms and public goods investments. <p>
Keywords: Aid; development; Africa.
JEL: F35 O19
Date: 2006-11-30
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0237&r=agr
9. Development and Social Goals: Balancing Aid and Development
to Prevent ?Welfare Colonialism?
Erik S. Reinert
The current development policy focus on poverty reduction is
erroneous. Historically, successful development policy?from the
late fifteenth century until the beginning of the twenty-
first?has achieved structural change away from dependence on
raw materials and agriculture, adding specialized manufacturing
and services subject to increasing returns with a complex
division of labour. In contrast, the Millennium Development Goals
are heavily biased in favour of palliative economics: alleviating
the symptoms of poverty, rather than attacking its real causes.
This creates a system of ?welfare colonialism? increasing the
dependence of poor countries, thereby hindering, rather than
promoting, long-term structural change.
Keywords: Millennium Development Goals, economic development,
palliative economics, welfare colonialism
JEL: F02 F13 O10 O19
Date: 2006-01
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:14&r=agr
10. D?veloppement rural et environnement
Matilde Alonso (LCE ? REAL - Langues et cultures
europ?ennes Histoire des id?es : Europe - Am?rique
latine REAL - [Universit? Lumi?re - Lyon II])
La micro-r?gion de Tomina constitue une partie du d?partement
de Chuquisaca (Bolivie). Un d?partement situ? dans les vall?es
inter-andines o? la coop?ration au d?veloppement de l'Union
europ?enne s'est propos?e de financer des projets de
d?veloppement rural ? partir du Programme des Micro-Projets
Ruraux (PMPR) en vue promouvoir l'?conomie du territoire et de
lutter contre la pauvret?. <br />Tandis que la Bolivie conna?t
une r?cup?ration ?conomique g?n?rale, l'incidence de la
r?cup?ration ?conomique sur la structure productive primaire
de Chuquisaca conna?t des limites. L'?tude du mod?le de
d?veloppement de la micro-r?gion de Tomina permet de comprendre
que ce sont les facteurs endog?nes qui peuvent donner une
explication aux probl?mes du d?veloppement de la r?alit? du
d?partement. On ne pourrait pas nier l'existence des facteurs
exog?nes, mais notre diagnostic montre davantage la contribution
des facteurs endog?nes.
Keywords: Am?rique Latine ; Bolivie ; d?veloppement rural ;
environnement
Date: 2006-12-09
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00119414_v1&r=agr
11. Collective penalties and inducement of self-reporting
Katrin Millock (CES - Centre d'?conomie de la Sorbonne -
[CNRS : UMR8174] - [Universit? Panth?on-Sorbonne - Paris
I])
David Zilberman (Department of Agricultural and Ressource
Economics - [University of California, Berkeley])
Random accidents can be contained by collective penalties. These
penalties are not likely to be enforced but rather induce self-
reporting that enhances welfare due to early containment. Self-
reporting under collective penalties increases overall welfare,
but may increase expected environmental cost. Even when
regulation is constrained by an upper limit on the acceptable
collective penalty, the threat of collective penalties can induce
an incentive-compatible mutual insurance scheme under which a
side-payment is made to the agent that self-reports an accident.
This self-reporting mechanism is welfare-improving, but first-
best outcomes can only be obtained when the collective penalty is
unconstrained, or when an honor system applies. In cases when
there is a new externality that requires fast response (avian flu)
collective penalties can compliment or substitute for
monitoring.
Keywords: Ambient tax, collective penalties, enforcement, self-
reporting.
Date: 2006-12-06
URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00118778_v1&r=agr
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