AgEcon Search: Research in Agricultural and Applied Economics collects
AgEcon Search: Research in Agricultural and Applied Economics collects, indexes, and electronically distributes full text copies of scholarly research in the broadly defined field of agricultural economics including sub disciplines such as agribusiness, food supply, natural resource economics, environmental economics, policy issues, agricultural trade, and economic development.
The majority of items in AgEcon Search are working papers, conference papers, and journal articles, although other types such as books chapters and government documents are included. AgEcon Search will serve as the permanent archive for this literature and encourages authors and organizations to use this electronic library as the storehouse for additional appropriate scholarly electronic works.
2003 Annual Meeting, August 16-22, 2003, Durban, South Africa
Mostrando recursos 1 - 20 de 132
MEASURING THE IMPACTS OF PRIME-AGE ADULT DEATH ON RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN KENYA - Yamano, Takashi; Jayne, Thomas S.; McNeil, Melody Rebekah
Using a two-year panel of 1,422 Kenyan households surveyed in 1997 and 2000, we measure how working-age adult mortality affects rural households= size and composition, crop production, asset levels, and off-farm income. First, the paper uses adult mortality rates from available data on an HIV-negative sample to predict the proportion of deaths observed between 1997 and 2000 due to AIDS. Next, using a difference-in-differences estimation, we measure changes in outcomes between households afflicted by adult mortality vs. those not afflicted over the three-year survey period. The effects of adult mortality are highly sensitive to the gender and position of the...
HUMAN CAPITAL AND LABOR FLOWS OUT OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR: EVIDENCE FROM SLOVENIA - Bojnec, Stefan; Dries, Liesbeth; Swinnen, Johan F.M.
This paper analyses of determinants of agricultural labor flows and the role of human capital in this process on the basis of the Slovenian Labor Force Surveys for the years 1993 to 1999. The household heads living in larger households, having a larger farm size, and working full-time (more hours per week) in permanent jobs are more likely to stay in agricultural employment. The empirical evidence clearly suggests that human capital plays a crucial role for labor mobility and labor adjustment. Young, female and educated individuals are more likely to enter into employment in non-agricultural, particularly service activities. There are...
A HEDONIC MODEL OF RICE TRAITS: ECONOMIC VALUES FROM FARMERS IN WEST AFRICA - Dalton, Timothy J.
New crop varieties often have been promoted in developing countries based upon superior yield vis-a-vis locally available varieties. This research presents a hedonic model for upland rice by drawing upon the input characteristics and consumer good characteristics model literature. Model specification tests determine that a combination of production and consumption characteristics best explains the willingness to pay for new upland rice varieties. This non-separable household model specification determined that four traits explain the willingness to pay for new rice varieties: plant cycle length, plant height, grain elongation/swelling and tenderness. Yield was not significant explanatory variable for the willingness to pay...
COPPER CRISIS AND AGRICULTURAL RENAISSANCE IN ZAMBIA: AN ECONOMY-WIDE ANALYSIS - Lofgren, Hans; Robinson, Sherman; Thurlow, James
Zambia's strong dependence on copper exports has suppressed other tradables sectors, indicative of a Dutch disease phenomenon. The current copper crisis will have strong economic effects, possibly reversing such Dutch disease effects. We use a computable general equilibrium model built around a 1995 social accounting matrix to simulate the short- and long-run effects of two scenarios that reflect the current crisis, a 20 percent reduction in world copper prices and a complete collapse of copper mining. Compared to the short run, the long run is characterized by more flexibility in production technology and capital allocation. Both scenarios require a significant...
IS CHINA'S AGRICULTURAL FUTURES MARKET EFFICIENT? - Wang, H. Holly; Ke, Bingfan
In this paper, we study the efficiency of the Chinese wheat and soybeans futures markets and assess the conditions in agricultural commodity futures and cash markets in China. Formal statistical tests are conducted through Johansen's cointegration approach to identify the long-term equilibrium relationship between futures and cash markets.
Three different cash prices from Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market, Tianjin Grain Wholesale Market, and the national average wholesale price are used. The wheat futures price from China Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and soybeans futures price from Dalian Commodity Exchange with different forecasting horizons ranging from one week to six months are also used.
THE ECONOMICS OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION-A STUDY IN A COFFEE GROWING REGION OF INDIA - Ninan, K.N.; Sathyapalan, Jyothis
This paper analyses the economics of biodiversity conservation in the context of a tropical ecosystem in India, where coffee is the main competitor for land use.Using primary data covering a cross section of coffee growers,the study notes that the opportunity costs of biodiversity conservation in terms of coffee benefits foregone are quite high.Even after including external costs due to wild life damages and defensive expenditures to protect against wild life, the NPVs and IRRs from coffee for all land holding groups were high.The study notes that the external costs accounted for between 7 to 15% of the total discounted costs...
Investing in Hope: AIDS, Life Expectancy, and Human Capital Accumulation - Huang, Rui; Fulginiti, Lilyan E.; Peterson, E. Wesley F.
A three period overlapping generations model is developed to investigate the impact of shorter life expectancy due to disease, on human capital investment decisions and income growth. This research is particularly relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa given the dramatic reduction in life expectancy due to HIV/AIDS and the potential lasting effects on growth. Our results indicate that as life expectancy shortens so does schooling inducing a lower growth rate of income. These relationships are even more pronounced for the African continent than for the rest of the world.
LAND MARKETS IN UGANDA: INCIDENCE, IMPACT AND EVOLUTION OVER TIME - Deininger, Klaus W.; Mpuga, Paul
Although there is broad agreement that well functioning land rental markets will play an important role to increase productivity and household welfare as agrarian economies develop, evidence from Africa on the actual performance and impact of such markets is limited. We use data from Uganda to test for differences in the performance of rental, as compared to sales markets and their evolution over time, based on a framework where markets are affected by differences in ability and imperfections in rural labor and capital markets. We find that land markets are very active, that land rental but not sales markets transfer...
AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO VALUING NEW DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS - Maynard, Leigh J.; Hartell, Jason G.; Meyer, A. Lee; Hao, Jianqiang
An experimental store was created to evaluate initial demand for locally-produced and guaranteed tender steak products as a more realistic alternative to contingent valuation (CV) and dichotomous-choice experimental methods. Strengths of the approach are incentive compatibility, a realistic consumption set, and a familiar choice environment. Consumers selected among USDA Choice, premium quality, lean, guaranteed tender, and locally-produced strip steaks. A double-hurdle count data model indicated initial willingness-to-pay for locally-produced steak comparable to prior CV results, but demand was highly elastic. Demand for premium quality steak crowded out demand for the guaranteed tender product, contrasting with prior dichotomous-choice experimental results.
DO COUNTER-CYCLICAL PAYMENTS IN THE FSRI ACT CREATE INCENTIVES TO PRODUCE? - Anton, Jesus; Le Mouel, Chantal
Analytical results in the literature suggest that counter-cyclical payments create risk-related incentives to produce even if they were "decoupled" under certainty (Hennessy, 1998). This paper develops a framework to assess the risk-related incentives to produce created by commodity programmes like the loan deficiency payments and the Counter-Cyclical Payments (CCP) in the FSRI Act. Because CCP are paid based on fixed production quantities they have a weaker risk-reducing impact than loan deficiency payments. The latter have a direct impact through the variance of the producer price distributions, while the impact of CCP is due only to the covariance between the CCP...
THE BLENDING OF PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS: WEALTH STATUS, GENDER AND THE ADOPTION OF IMPROVED FALLOWS IN ZAMBIA - Franzel, Steven Charles; Phiri, Donald; Mafongoya, Paramu; Jere, Isaac; Katanga, Roza; Phiri, Stanslous
Although there is increasing emphasis on targeting of improved technology towards poor and female farmers, few adoption studies assess the uptake of new practices by these groups in a comprehensive manner. In this study, community members used the wealth ranking method to identify the different wealth groups in their communities, to determine each household's wealth status, and to assess the association of wealth and different types of households with the planting of improved tree fallows, a practice for improving crop yields. There were no significant differences between the proportions of women and men planting improved fallows nor were there differences...
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN JAPANESE AGRICULTURE - Oniki, Shunji
As modern agricultural growth has been attained through increasing use of material input, it is discussed whether agricultural growth can be sustained in the long run within the limit of environmental tolerance. In order to investigate the possibility of growth, this study applies Aghion and Howittfs Schumpeterian growth model, and conducts empirical analyses using rice production panel data from eight regions in Japan for the period 1984 to 1999. Estimation of the translog cost function, which incorporates quality improvement effects, as well as the growth accounting estimation, reveals that the growth with quality improvement occurs, as the growth with increasing...
SC-X: CALIBRATING STATED CHOICE SURVEYS WITH EXPERIMENTAL AUCTION MARKETS - Alfnes, Frode; Rickertsen, Kyrre
Experimental auctions (X) use real economic incentives but are limited by available products and locally recruited samples. Stated choice (SC) surveys can use a representative sample to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for hypothetical products with unavailable characteristics. However, a number of studies conclude that surveys give biased WTP estimates. We designed a method, SC-X, to calibrate the WTP estimates from stated choice surveys with WTP observed in experimental auctions. This method allows us to extend the results from auctions to products with unavailable characteristics and to socioeconomic groups not included in the auction. The SC-X method is illustrated...
EFFECTS OF EU DAIRY POLICY REFORM FOR DUTCH AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMY: APPLYING AN AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMMING/MIXED INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL - Helming, John F.M.; Peerlings, Jack H.M.
A modelling system is presented and used to analyse the effects of EU dairy policy reform (Agenda 2000 and milk quota abolition with and without decoupled direct income payments) on Dutch agriculture and economy. The modelling system consists of a regionalised, agri-environmental, partial equilibrium, mathematical programming model of agriculture supply in the Netherlands integrated into a mixed input-output model. It was e.g. found that decoupling of direct income payments gives an extra stimulus to milk production after milk quota abolition. However, the increase in milk production is restricted by nutrient and manure policies in the Netherlands. It is also found...
STRATEGIES TO INCREASE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCE LAND DEGRADATION: EVIDENCE FROM UGANDA - Pender, John L.; Nkonya, Ephraim M.; Jagger, Pamela; Sserunkuuma, Dick; Ssali, Henry
This paper estimates a structural econometric model of household decisions regarding income strategies, participation in programs and organizations, crop choices, land management, and labor use, and their implications for agricultural production and land degradation; based upon a survey of over 450 households and their farm plots in Uganda. The results generally support the Boserupian model of population-induced agricultural intensification, but do not support the "more people-less erosion" hypothesis, with population pressure found to contribute to erosion in the densely populated highlands. Agricultural technical assistance programs have location-specific impacts on agricultural production and land degradation, contributing to higher value of crop...
Non-Farm Rural Activities (NFRA) in a Peasant Economy: The Case of the North Peruvian Sierra - Velazco, Jackeline
Is it feasible to increase income and generate employment in the context of a traditional labour intensive rural industry with strong linkages to an agriculturally backward economy? In order to address this issue, primary data from four villages of Peruvian North Sierra was used. The case of the hat making activity, employing exclusively family labour, purchasing the main input (straw, paja de palma) from Ecuador, and with consumers concentrated on villages and small towns, was investigated. The analysis was made at the market level. Considering the context of a self-employment activity, a theoretical framework was developed to explain the determinants...
INSTITUTIONS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA - Fulginiti, Lilyan E.; Perrin, Richard K.; Yu, Bingxin
Agricultural productivity in 41 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1960 to 1999 is examined by estimating a semi-nonparametric Fourier production frontier. Over the four decades the estimated rate of productivity change was 0.83% per year, although the average rate from 1985-99 was a strong 1.90% per year. Former UK colonies exhibited significantly higher productivity gains than others, while Liberia and countries that had been colonies of Portugal or Belgium exhibited net reductions in productivity. We measure a significant reduction in productivity during political conflicts and wars, and a significant increase in productivity among those countries with a measure of political...
Poverty, Resource Scarcity and Incentives for Soil and Water Conservation: Analysis of Interactions with a Bio-economic Model - Shiferaw, Bekele A.
The paper examines the interlinkages between population pressure and poverty, possible impacts on household welfare and land management, and the consequent pathways of development in a low potential rural economy. A dynamic non-separable bio-economic model, calibrated using data from the Ethiopian highlands, is used to trace key relationships between population pressure, poverty and soil fertility management in smallholder agriculture characterized by high levels of soil degradation. Farm households maximize their discounted utility over the planning horizon. Land, labor and credit markets are imperfect. Hence, production, consumption and investment decisions are jointly determined in each period. The level of soil degradation...
THE CALIBRATION OF INCOMPLETE DEMAND SYSTEMS IN QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS - Beghin, John C.; Bureau, Jean-Christophe; Drogue, Sophie
We introduce an easily implemented and flexible calibration technique for partial demand systems, combining recent developments in incomplete demand systems and a set of restrictions conditioned on the available elasticity estimates. The technique accommodates various degrees of knowledge on cross-price elasticities, satisfies curvature restrictions, and allows the recovery of an exact welfare measure for policy analysis. The technique is illustrated with a partial demand system for food consumption in Korea for different states of knowledge on cross-price effects. The consumer welfare impact of food and agricultural trade liberalization is measured.
ARE THE POOR TOO POOR TO DEMAND HEALTH INSURANCE? - Ahuja, Rajeev; Jutting, Johannes Paul
Community based micro insurance has aroused much interest and hope in meeting health care challenges facing the poor. In this paper we explore how institutional rigidities such as credit constraints impinge on demand for health insurance and how insurance could potentially prevent poor households from falling into poverty trap. In this setting, we argue that the appropriate public intervention in generating demand for insurance is not to subsidise premium but to remove these rigidities (easing credit constraint in the present context). Thus from insurance perspective as well, our analysis highlights the importance of having appropriate savings and borrowing instruments for...