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From: Angelo Zago (ernad)
Date: 10/22/06


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEP: New Economics Papers
Agricultural Economics
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited by: Angelo Zago
           http://ideas.repec.org/e/pza49.html
           Universita degli Studi di Verona
Date:      2006-09-23
Papers:	   17

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. Financing Agricultural Development: The Political Economy of 
   Public Spending on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
     Palaniswamy, Nethra; Birner, Regina
 
2. Diffusion of information among small-scale farmers in Senegal:
   the concept of Farmer Field Schools
     Witt, Rudolf; Waibel, Hermann; Pemsl, Diemuth E.
 
3. The Pathways out of Poverty in Rural Indonesia ? an 
   empirical assessment
     McCulloch, Neil; Weisbrod, Julian; Timmer, Peter
 
4. The role of food from natural resources in reducing 
   vulnerability to poverty: a case study from Zimbabwe
     Mith?fer, Dagmar; Waibel, Hermann; Akinnifesi, Festus
 
5. Trade liberalization under CAFTA: An Analysis of the 
   Agreement With Special Reference to Agriculture and 
   Smallholders in Central America
     Morley, Samuel
 
6. The role of agriculture in development: Implications for Sub-
   Saharan Africa
     Diao, Xinshen; Hazell, Peter; Resnick, Danielle; Thurlow, 
     James
 
7. Rural vulnerability in Serbia
     Ersado, Lire
 
8. Public investment to reverse Dutch disease: The Case of Chad
     Levy, Stephanie
 
9. Fairtrade and market failures in agricultural commodity 
   markets
     Ronchi, Loraine
 
10. From "best practice" to "best fit": A Framework for 
    Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide
     Birner, Regina; Davis, Kristin; Pender, John; Nkonya, 
     Ephraim; Anandajayasekeram, Ponniah; Ekboir, Javier; Mbabu, 
     Adiel; Spielman, David; Horna, Daniela; Benin, Samuel; Cohen,
     Marc J.
 
11. Conflict, food insecurity, and globalization:
     Messer, Ellen; Cohen, Marc J.
 
12. Insights from poverty maps for development and food relief 
    program targeting: an application to Malawi
     Benson, Todd
 
13. Village inequality in Western China: Implications for 
    Development Strategy in Lagging Regions
     Xing, Li; Fan, Shenggen; Luo, Xiaopeng; Zhang, Xiaobo
 
14. Contingent Valuation Analysis of Willingness to Pay To 
    Reduce Childhood Obesity
     John Cawley
 
15. Lake Drawdown: A Debate on the Value of 2 Inches of Water
     Russell Kashian
 
16. Credit for what? Informal credit as a coping strategy of 
    market women in northern Ghana
     Schindler, Kati
 
17. The welfare economics of optional water metering with 
    asymmetric information
     Simon Cowan
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Financing Agricultural Development: The Political Economy of 
   Public Spending on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
  
    Palaniswamy, Nethra
    Birner, Regina

Acknowledging that the agricultural sector can play an important 
role as an engine of pro-poor growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the 
purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence 
the ?political will? of governments to support this sector. 
The concept of ?political resources? from the political 
science literature is used to guide the analysis, as it combines 
the insights from state-centered and society-centered approaches 
to explain agricultural policies. Drawing on panel data covering 
14 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1980-2001, we 
present empirical evidence showing that political factors play an 
important role in determining government?s commitment to 
supporting agricultural development. We use a measure of 
democracy that varies both across countries and within countries 
over time. Estimates are presented for separate samples of 
democracies and non-democracies, and for a pooled sample of all 
countries and years irrespective of the democratic status. Our 
results suggest that the rural poor do exercise electoral 
leverage in democracies; larger rural population shares are 
associated with higher spending on agriculture in democracies but 
not in authoritarian regimes. We also find evidence consistent 
with the theoretical prior that larger farmers tend to be better 
organized in interest groups. Specifically, we find that the 
share of traditional agricultural exports such as coffee and 
cocoa in the total value of exports, which may be an indicator 
for the ability of farmers? to organize themselves as interest 
groups, induces greater spending on agriculture. This result 
holds true for both democracies and nondemocracies.
 
JEL:      H3 H5 O13 Q18
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4727&r=agr



2. Diffusion of information among small-scale farmers in Senegal:
   the concept of Farmer Field Schools
  
    Witt, Rudolf
    Waibel, Hermann
    Pemsl, Diemuth E.

Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in 
agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the 
economic impacts of this concept and especially the knowledge 
diffusion effects from trained to non-trained farmers. Based on a 
study in Senegal this paper hypothesizes that the question of the 
project placement strategy is vital when analyzing knowledge 
diffusion effects of FFS in Africa. Results show that the share 
of trained farmers in a community is a decisive factor for 
adoption behavior and knowledge diffusion. It is concluded that 
when introducing an FFS, a critical mass of trained farmers is 
important to attain effective dissemination of information and to 
generate positive stimuli for adoption and learning among non-
participants.
 
Keywords: Africa, Senegal, agricultural extension, Farmer Field 
          School, diffusion
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4753&r=agr



3. The Pathways out of Poverty in Rural Indonesia ? an 
   empirical assessment
  
    McCulloch, Neil
    Weisbrod, Julian
    Timmer, Peter

Since most poor live in rural areas, primarily engaged in low 
productivity farm activity, the pathway out of poverty must be 
strongly connected to productivity increases, whether they are 
realised in farming, rural non-farm enterprises or via urban 
migration. By utilizing the IFLS panel dataset for 1993 and 2000 
from Indonesia, this paper shows, using empirical techniques, 
which pathways out of poverty were most successful in 
Indonesia?s past. Our findings suggest that the increased 
engagement of rural farmers in rural non-farm enterprises is a 
key way to alleviate rural poverty.
 
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4752&r=agr



4. The role of food from natural resources in reducing 
   vulnerability to poverty: a case study from Zimbabwe
  
    Mith?fer, Dagmar
    Waibel, Hermann
    Akinnifesi, Festus

Vulnerability to poverty is a major problem in the rural areas 
of Sub Saharan Africa. Rural Households are confronted with 
various covariate and idiosyncratic shocks and are often severely 
constrained in coping with such events. They frequently resort to 
food from natural resources such as indigenous fruits during 
times of crisis. The availability of such food sources is 
increasingly at risk due to deforestation and biodiversity loss. 
The objective of this paper is to quantify the contribution of 
indigenous fruit trees towards reducing vulnerability to food 
insecurity and poverty. The methodology used is a multi-period 
stochastic household income model. The data were collected in a 
case study in Zimbabwe using detailed monthly income and 
expenditure records of a sample of 39 rural households in two 
areas. The two regions differ in their agricultural system. In 
one area horticulture, off-farm activities and exotic fruits are 
a major source of income while in the other area indigenous 
fruits are a more important source of income. This paper 
concentrates on the latter area. Model calculations show that 
rural households in Zimbabwe are highly vulnerable to seasonal 
fluctuations in income and therefore a critical period where 
households run high risk of being food insecure can be identified.
While indigenous fruits, as a low cost natural resource, can 
facilitate income smoothing, the role of other sources of income 
must not be neglected. The paper concludes that diversified 
season-specific income generating portfolios must be designed of 
which indigenous fruit trees have a role to play.
 
Keywords: Vulnerability, poverty, food security, seasonal 
          fluctuations, wild food resources, Zimbabwe
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4751&r=agr



5. Trade liberalization under CAFTA: An Analysis of the 
   Agreement With Special Reference to Agriculture and 
   Smallholders in Central America
  
    Morley, Samuel

"This paper is a description and an analysis of trade 
liberalization under CAFTA. It shows that in the short run the 
impact of the agreement is likely to be small... Since the U.S. 
already grants tariff-free access under the CBI, trade 
liberalization in the CAFTA treaty appears to be asymmetric, with 
most of the tariff reductions being granted by the Central 
American countries. That is misleading for two reasons. First 
there really were some significant tariff barriers in the United 
States for agricultural commodities under the CBI. Many of these 
are removed under CAFTA. Second, the current favorable special 
treatment of the five Central American countries under the CBTPA 
and the CBI will expire in 2008 if CAFTA is not implemented. 
CAFTA makes permanent the tariff concessions of the CBI and the 
liberalized rules of origin of the CBTPA... The fact that the 
tariff reductions and TRQs granted by the Central American 
countries under CAFTA will not cause significant price reductions 
does not mean that domestic producers will be unaffected by the 
agreement. In the long run the level of protection of many 
important commodities such as rice, pork and poultry will be 
significantly lower. But the tariff reductions in these sectors 
are gradual. That gives farmers time to adjust and to become more 
competitive. What will be critical from a policy perspective is 
that this time is used wisely to increase productivity, switch to 
more profitable crops and take advantage of the new opportunities 
opened up by CAFTA.." Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: trade liberalization, Agriculture, Smallholders, 
          Tariff on farm produce, Prices, Crops Economic aspects, 
          Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), Caribbean 
          Basin Initiative (CBI),
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:33&r=agr



6. The role of agriculture in development: Implications for Sub-
   Saharan Africa
  
    Diao, Xinshen
    Hazell, Peter
    Resnick, Danielle
    Thurlow, James

"This paper provides a nuanced perspective on debates about the 
potential for Africa's smallholder agriculture to stimulate 
growth and alleviate poverty in an increasingly integrated world. 
In particular, the paper synthesizes both the traditional 
theoretical literature on agriculture's role in the development 
process and discusses more recent literature that remains 
skeptical about agriculture's development potential for Africa. 
In order to examine in greater detail the relevance for Africa of 
both the ?old? and ?new? literatures on agriculture, the 
paper provides a typology of African countries based on their 
stage of development, agricultural conditions, natural resources, 
and geographic location... More broadly, the paper demonstrates 
that conventional theory on the role of agriculture in the early 
stage of development remains relevant to Africa. While the 
continent does face new and different challenges than those 
encountered by Asian and Latin American countries during their 
successful transformations, most African countries cannot 
significantly reduce poverty, increase per capita incomes, and 
transform into modern economies without focusing on agricultural 
development." from Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: Growth-poverty linkages, Smallholders, Poverty 
          alleviation, Agricultural development Africa, 
          Agriculture Economic aspects, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, 
          Uganda, Zambia,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:29&r=agr



7. Rural vulnerability in Serbia
  
    Ersado, Lire

In the presence of risk and uncertainty, measures such as 
poverty rates are inadequate to analyze the well-being of poor 
households. The poor are not only concerned about the current low 
levels of their income or consumption, but also the likelihood of 
experiencing stressful declines in these levels in the future. 
Risks to livelihood are particularly important in rural areas 
where there is generally high dependence on agriculture and the 
environment. In this study, the author analyzes the nature, 
extent, and causes of rural vulnerability in Serbia using panel 
national household data from the 2002 and 2003 Serbia Living 
Standard Surveys. He measures rural vulnerability as a function 
of nonstochastic determinants of poverty as well as exposure to 
risk. While low levels of consumption (poverty) explain about 70 
percent of vulnerability, the author identifies risk and 
uncertainty as crucial dimensions of rural life in accounting for 
the remaining 30 percent of household vulnerability. Households 
and regions with a greater share of their livelihood depending on 
agricultural activities are more at risk of vulnerability than 
those with a significantly higher share of their income coming 
from nonagricultural sources. Dependence on agricultural income 
is directly associated with higher aggregate risk, underscoring 
the agricultural sector?s lopsided exposure to covariate shocks 
in general, and the negative impact of the 2003 drought in 
particular. Rural vulnerability to poverty and risk is also 
strongly associated with asset ownership and access to markets to 
mobilize them in time of need.
 
Keywords: Rural Poverty Reduction,Population Policies,Pro-Poor 
          Growth and Inequality,Services & Transfers to Poor
Date:     2006-09-01
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4010&r=agr



8. Public investment to reverse Dutch disease: The Case of Chad
  
    Levy, Stephanie

"This paper studies the relevance of agricultural policies for 
avoiding Dutch Disease, which affects many less developed 
countries experiencing a resource boom. Using a computable 
general equilibrium model calibrated for Chad, we study the 
impact of using this country's annual oil revenue for public 
investment, particularly in the development of road and 
irrigation infrastructure. Our model takes into account the 
integration of markets and migration processes. We find that 
improving water access would reduce Chad's dependence on food aid 
and entail a substantial improvement in rural household welfare." 
Author's Abstract
 
Keywords: Agricultural policies, Computable general equilibrium (
          CGE), infrastructure, Public investment, Rural 
          households, Market integration, trade, Road 
          construction Economic aspects,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:35&r=agr



9. Fairtrade and market failures in agricultural commodity 
   markets
  
    Ronchi, Loraine

This paper concerns an NGO intervention in agricultural 
commodity markets known as Fairtrade. Fairtrade pays producers a 
minimum unit price and provides capacity building support to 
member cooperative organizations. Fairtrade ' s organizational 
capacity support targets those factors believed to reduce the 
commodity producer ' s share of returns. Specifically, Fairtrade 
justifies its intervention in markets like coffee by claiming 
that market power and a lack of capacity in producer 
organizations ' marks down ' the prices producers receive. As the 
market share of Fairtrade coffee grows in importance, its 
intervention in commodity markets is of increasing interest. 
Using an original data set collected from fieldwork in Costa Rica,
this paper assesses the role of Fairtrade in overcoming the 
market factors it claims limits producer returns. Features of the 
Costa Rican input market for coffee permit a generalization of 
the results. The empirical results find that market power is a 
limiting factor in the Costa Rican market and that Fairtrade does 
improve the efficiency of cooperatives, thereby increasing the 
returns to producers. These results do not depend on the minimum 
price policy of Fairtrade and therefore can inform on its 
organizational support activities. Finally, the results also 
suggest that producers selling to vertically integrated, 
multinational coffee mills face lower producer price ' mark-downs 
' compared with domestically owned non-cooperative mills. This 
result contradicts the popular view that the increasing 
concentration of vertically integrated multinational firms 
accounts for a decline in producers ' share of coffee returns.
 
Keywords: Markets and Market Access,Crops & Crop Management 
          Systems,Access to Markets,Commodities,Economic Theory & 
          Research
Date:     2006-09-01
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4011&r=agr



10. From "best practice" to "best fit": A Framework for 
    Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide
  
    Birner, Regina
    Davis, Kristin
    Pender, John
    Nkonya, Ephraim
    Anandajayasekeram, Ponniah
    Ekboir, Javier
    Mbabu, Adiel
    Spielman, David
    Horna, Daniela
    Benin, Samuel
    Cohen, Marc J.

"The paper develops a framework for the design and analysis of 
pluralistic agricultural advisory services and reviews research 
methods from different disciplines that can be used when applying 
the framework. Agricultural advisory services are defined in the 
paper as the entire set of organizations that support and 
facilitate people engaged in agricultural production to solve 
problems and to obtain information, skills and technologies to 
improve their livelihoods and well-being... To classify 
pluralistic agricultural advisory services, the paper 
distinguishes between organizations from the public, the private 
and the third sector that can be involved in (a) providing and (b)
financing of agricultural advisory services. The framework for 
analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services presented in 
the paper addresses the need for analytical approaches that help 
policy-makers to identify those reform options that best fit 
country-specific frame conditions. Thus, the paper supports a 
shift from a ?one-size-fits-all? to a ?best fit? approach 
in the reform of public services... Based on a review of the 
literature, the paper presents a variety of quantitative and 
qualitative methodological approaches derived from different 
disciplines that can be applied when using the framework in 
empirical research projects. The disciplines include agricultural 
and institutional economics, communication theory, adult 
education, and public administration and management. The paper 
intends to inform researchers as well as practitioners, policy-
makers and development partners who are interested in supporting 
evidence-based reform of agricultural advisory services. from 
Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: Agricultural extension work, Pro-poor growth, Capacity 
          strengthening,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:37&r=agr



11. Conflict, food insecurity, and globalization:
  
    Messer, Ellen
    Cohen, Marc J.

"We explore how globalization, broadly conceived to include 
international humanrights norms, humanitarianism, and alternative 
trade, might influence peaceful and foodsecure outlooks and 
outcomes. The paper draws on our previous work on conflict as a 
cause and effect of hunger and also looks at agricultural exports 
as war commodities. We review studies on the relationships 
between (1) conflict and food insecurity, (2) conflict and 
globalization, and (3) globalization and food insecurity. Next, 
we analyze countrylevel, historical contexts where export crops, 
such as coffee and cotton, have been implicated in triggering and 
perpetuating conflict. These cases suggest that it is not export 
cropping per se, but production and trade structures and food and 
financial policy contexts that determine peaceful or belligerent 
outcomes. Export cropping appears to contribute to conflict when 
fluctuating prices destabilize household and national incomes and 
when revenues fund hostilities. Also, in these scenarios, 
governments have not taken steps to progressively realize the 
right to adequate food or to reduce hunger and poverty. We 
conclude by exploring implications for agricultural development, 
trade, and human rights policies." Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: Hunger, Conflict, war, Globalization, Crops, exports, 
          coffee, Cotton, Human rights, Right to food, Fair trade,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:206&r=agr



12. Insights from poverty maps for development and food relief 
    program targeting: an application to Malawi
  
    Benson, Todd

"Poverty mapping applies models of household welfare developed 
from detailed household consumption and expenditure surveys to 
the extensive but less detailed data from national censuses. A 
poverty map for Malawi, developed by drawing upon information 
from the 1997?98 Malawi Integrated Household Survey with the 
1998 Malawi Population and Housing Census, provides aggregate 
estimates of household welfare and poverty at a highly 
disaggregated level?down to the level of local government wards.
Given the close association between welfare and food security in 
most Malawi households, such a detailed poverty map can be of 
considerable value to development and relief organizations, as 
they plan and target activities to improve the ability of poor 
households to cope with food scarcity. This paper assesses the 
value of the Malawi poverty map with reference to two activities 
of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi: the Food for Assets 
and Development (FFASD) public works program and the 
Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) food insecurity 
information generation system. First, the poverty targeting 
efficiency of the FFASD program is evaluated using the poverty 
map to determine whether the FFASD projects are preferentially 
located in areas where disproportionate numbers of the poor are 
found. This is done in part by comparing the poverty targeting 
efficiency of the WFP program to that of the Malawi Social Action 
Fund Public Works Programme projects. Second, WFP employs the VAM 
methodology to determine how and where to employ its resources 
from year to year. The potential value of the poverty map as a 
component of the VAM process in Malawi is then considered. The 
results indicate that the poverty map is an effective and 
objective way to geographically target projects and programs on a 
poverty basis in Malawi. In assessing household vulnerability to 
food insecurity, the poverty map serves as a useful proxy 
indicator of spatial variability in the ability of the population 
to cope with food scarcity. Poverty maps, in those countries were 
they are available, should be a privileged data source for 
undertaking any national vulnerability analyses. However, the 
poverty map needs to be used with complementary data to better 
understand the risks households face that might result in food 
scarcity and the actual mechanisms households use to cope with 
such stresses." Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: Poverty mapping, food security, Malawi, Food relief, 
          Targeting,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:205&r=agr



13. Village inequality in Western China: Implications for 
    Development Strategy in Lagging Regions
  
    Xing, Li
    Fan, Shenggen
    Luo, Xiaopeng
    Zhang, Xiaobo

"Increased regional inequality has been a major concern in many 
emerging economies like China, India, Vietnam and Thailand. 
However, even a large inequality is observed within the lagging 
regions. The objective of this paper is to look into what are the 
sources of within region inequality using the community surveys 
and a census type of households in Western China. This snapshot 
view of inequality within and between rural villages in western 
China is based on a census-type household survey in three 
administrative villages and a sampling survey of 286 natural 
villages in the poor province of Guizhou in 2004. In contrast to 
coastal regions, nonfarm income is distributed unevenly in this 
inland western region. This accounts for the largest share of 
overall income inequality. But agriculture is still the rural 
people's major source of livelihood in this particular location. 
On the expenditure side, health care is one of the most important 
sources of inequality. Because rural income is strongly related 
to human capital, the uneven access to health care will translate 
into a larger income gap in the long run. The analysis based on 
the natural village survey indicates that income varies widely 
across villages. Access to infrastructure and markets, education, 
and political participation explain most of this variation. These 
findings have important implications on the future development 
strategy in promoting lagging regions development and poverty 
reduction. While the overall economic development will be the 
main instrument to bring the majority poor out of poverty, a 
targeted approach has become increasingly crucial in helping the 
poor villages and households. It is critical to understand why 
these villages and households can not participate in the growth 
process and how development programs and various transfer 
programs help them to overcome the constraints they face." 
Authors' Abstract
 
Keywords: Rural development, Poverty reduction, Inequality, 
          Public investment, China, Asia, Household surveys, 
          Agriculture, Income Rural areas,
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:31&r=agr



14. Contingent Valuation Analysis of Willingness to Pay To 
    Reduce Childhood Obesity
  
    John Cawley

Several recent surveys have asked Americans whether they support 
policies to reduce childhood obesity. There is reason for 
skepticism of such surveys because people are not confronted with 
the tax costs of such policies when they are asked whether they 
support them. This paper uses contingent valuation (CV), a method 
frequently used to estimate people's willingness to pay (WTP) for 
goods or services not transacted in markets, applied to unique 
data from New York State, to estimate the willingness to pay to 
reduce childhood obesity. The willingness to pay data have 
considerable face validity; they correlate in predictable ways 
with observed characteristics of respondents. The mean WTP of New 
Yorkers for a 50% reduction in childhood obesity is $47.25, which 
implies a total WTP by New York residents of $692.3 million. This 
vastly exceeds the implied savings in external costs, suggesting 
that the public supports public health initiatives not only to 
reduce external costs, but also altruistically. Despite the large 
WTP relative to the savings in external costs, the WTP estimated 
using the CV techniques in this paper are somewhat lower than 
those implied by previous surveys that did not use CV methods.
 
JEL:      I1 I18
Date:     2006-09
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12510&r=agr



15. Lake Drawdown: A Debate on the Value of 2 Inches of Water
  
    Russell Kashian (Department of Economics, University of 
      Wisconsin - Whitewater)

This study uses the hedonic price model to estimate the effect a 
change in water level has on the value of real estate on Lake 
Koshkonong in Wisconsin. Hedonic techniques are employed to show 
that a 2 inch reduction in the lake?s water level had a 
significant effect on Lake Koshkonong?s shoreline property 
values. The body of existing research demonstrates that changes 
in both the subjective and objective indicators of value is 
important for estimating the implicit value of water quality in 
hedonic analyses. This paper provides new evidence on the 
economic harm created by the reduction of water levels and the 
concurrent publicity created by the action.
 
Date:     2006-09
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uww:wpaper:06-02&r=agr



16. Credit for what? Informal credit as a coping strategy of 
    market women in northern Ghana
  
    Schindler, Kati

This paper analyzes the use of informal credit as a coping 
strategy against risk by market women in the city of Tamale, 
Ghana. Using qualitative research techniques, the analysis 
reveals that intra-household structure and allocation decisions 
determine these market-based coping strategies. Market women 
invest a considerable amount of working hours in maintaining 
complex credit networks as a safeguard against extreme risks. As 
a policy implication, this research suggests to provide market 
women with access to formal, reliable and long-term microfinance 
institutions, both to improve their ability to cope with risks 
and to reduce the risks they face.
 
Keywords: micro-credit, informal markets, networks, coping 
          strategies, intra-household allocation, women, Ghana
JEL:      D13 O12 O17
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4761&r=agr



17. The welfare economics of optional water metering with 
    asymmetric information
  
    Simon Cowan

The paper develops a model of decentralized metering decisions 
when selective metering is socially optimal. Households choose 
between two-part tariffs. Decentralization achieves social 
efficiency when the regulator, who knows household 
characteristics, gives household-specific compensation (via a 
reduction in the lump-sum charge on choosing to have a meter), 
while allowing for the cost of metering. Relative to the status 
quo of no metering the full-information scheme provides a Pareto 
improvement. With asymmetric information the first-best 
allocation of meters can be achieved when only small consumers 
should have meters. When large consumers alone should be metered 
it is not possible to separate customers. An exogenous signal 
that is highly correlated with the unknown type can, however, 
help to alleviate this problem. The policy of requiring meters to 
be provided free is problematic because the first-best allocation 
does not enable all the water supplier`s costs to be recovered.
 
Keywords: Water Metering, Optional, Two-part Tariffs, Asymmetric 
          Information
JEL:      D82 L51 Q25
Date:     2006
URL:      http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:273&r=agr


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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Pennsylvania


Dauphin County Edition

Zip Code:  
The zipcode value determines localized news and weather content.
Clear
Current Conditions in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Weather Advisories

Last Updated:10:56 PM EST December 2, 2008
Conditions:Clear
Temperature:27° F
Wind Chill:27° F
Humidity:81%
Dew Point:22° F
Wind:North at 0 MPH
Pressure:30.22 Inches
Visibility:10.0 Miles
Sun Rise:07:12 AM
Sun Set:04:41 PM
Moon Rise:10:59 AM
Moon Set:09:02 PM


U.S. Department of Agriculture

Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin



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 Pennsylvania To Receive Federal Funding To Fight Invasive Beetle

 Annual Historical Society Dinner Planned Sept. 18

 Mysterious Beehive Disorder Might Inflate Honey, Fruit Prices

 Organic Farmer: Consumption And Production On The Rise

 Totino's, Jeno's Pizzas Linked To E. Coli Outbreak - Eight Cases Reported In Tennessee

 Imported Wood Ban

 Local News

 Queen's Success Boosts Dayton Fair

 To Stop A Forest Pest, Pa. Bans Most Out-of-state Firewood

 Crash Snarls Traffic


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 Horse Shot On Farm On First Day Of Deer Season

 Packing Industry Consolidation Concerns Montana Cattlemen

 At Our Best

 2009 Virginia Forage-beef Summit To Address Key Issues Facing Livestock Industry

 Opposition Mounts Against U.S. Sugar Deal

 Kent Economic Partnership Makes Its Debut

 Skins Game ... Heart Attacks ... Commie Golf ... Annie Oakley

 UW Extension Offers Honey Bee Seminar On April 16 In Cody

 Targeted Agricultural Investments Will Yield High Results, Slash Poverty In Africa, Experts Say

 Canada Hauls US To WTO Over Beef, Pork Rules


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