http://ageconsearch.umn.edu The DSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. Search the Channel search http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/simple-search http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31112 Title: Institutions and Demographic Responses to Shocks: Wuttemberg, 1634-1870 <br/> <br/>Authors: Guinnane, Timothy; Ogilvie, Sheilagh <br/> <br/>Abstract: Simple Malthusian models remain an important tool for understanding pre-modern demographic systems and their connection to the economy. But most recent literature has lost sight of the institutional context for demographic behavior that lay at the heart of Malthus’s own analysis. This paper estimates a short-run version of a Malthusian model for two Württemberg communities from 1646 to 1870. Württemberg differed institutionally from the northwest European societies analyzed in previous studies. The impact of institutional differences shows clearly in differing demographic reactions to economic shocks. Mortality was less sensitive to shocks than one would expect, while nuptiality was especially sensitive. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31111 Title: Assessing the marginal dollar value losses to an estuarine ecosystem from an aggressive alien invasive crab <br/> <br/>Authors: Bell, Brian; Menzies, Sharon; Yap, Michael; Kerr, Geoff <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper reports on a case study to establish dollar values for loss of biodiversity in the New Zealand coastal marine environment. The study uses the European Shore Crab (Carcinas maenas) as the example alien invasive species and the Pauatahanui Inlet, Wellington, New Zealand, as the ecosystem representative of the coastal marine environment. Choice modelling is the stated preference tool used to elicit marginal dollar values for these various attributes of the inlet. Reallocation of existing government expenditure is used as the payment mechanism. Results indicate a wide range of dollar values for the marginal losses to the environment, with no clear trend on a distance-decay relationship. The probability distributions of the dollar values of the environmental attributes tended to have a concentration around the median with very wide tails, especially on the high side. This indicates that most people generally agreed on a dollar value, but a very few individuals expressed extremely high values. The study concludes that the dollar values for loss of biodiversity and other environmental attributes do provide useful information to decision makers, but considerable caution needs to be exercised when applying these values in benefit cost studies. Marginal rate of substitution estimates between environmental attributes will be useful for estimating money values for attributes identified given future work estimates a statistically significant money value for one. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31110 Title: When should biodiversity tenders contract on outcomes? <br/> <br/>Authors: Gorddard, Russell; Whitten, Stuart; Reeson, Andrew <br/> <br/>Abstract: Making conservation program payments conditional on outcomes offers potential efficiency and innovation improvements over input based contracts. This paper explores the trade-offs involved in choosing the payment criteria for biodiversity tenders. A model where the budget for a conservation tender can be allocated to input, outcome or mixed payments is used to explore the impacts of hidden actions, adverse selection, and landholder risk aversion on the optimal policy design. We discuss the implications of these results for the design of the ‘Nest Egg’ tender. This tender is targeting habitat and breeding of ground-nesting birds in the New South Wales Murray Catchment. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31109 Title: Beyond Credence: Emerging Consumer Trends in International Market <br/> <br/>Authors: Cuthbertson, Bron; Marks, Nicki <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper presents the findings of research on emerging global trends in consumer food preferences with credence attributes. Credence qualities cannot be evaluated in normal use. Instead the assessment of their value requires information sought through the search and experience of a product (Darbi & Karni, 1973). Key trends identified were Health and wellness foods, environmentally sustainable and ethical food production. Key drivers for these trends are corporate social responsibility, media, obesity, technology, an aging population and consumers' environmental attitudes. Conditions to operate in this market are traceability, food safety, trust, accreditation, labeling and branding. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31108 Title: Migration and Farm Efficiency: Evidence from Northern Thailand <br/> <br/>Authors: Nonthakot, Phanin; Villano, Renato <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between labour migration and agricultural productivity in the Northern Province of Thailand. Drawing on maize production data from a household survey, we estimate a stochastic production function to evaluate the effects of migration, remittances and salient characteristics of migrants on the mean maize output and levels of technical efficiency. Evidence shows that remittances and number of migrant workers facilitate maize production. It was also found that remittances, duration of migration, gender and education of migrants enhance the productive capacity of maize farmers. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31107 Title: Agricultural Supply Response in Fiji <br/> <br/>Authors: Hone, Philip; Haszler, Henry; Natasiwai, Tevita <br/> <br/>Abstract: The agricultural sector is a central part of the Fiji Islands economy. Policies to alleviate poverty and stimulate economic growth need to be based on a sound understanding of the local agricultural systems involved. This understanding needs to extend to the responsiveness of production to price changes. To date there have been no published quantitative estimates of the responsiveness of agricultural supply in Fiji to output price changes. In this paper we present a set of highly disaggregated supply elasticities covering many of the major food crops produced and consumed in Fiji. These results have been derived from a stated intention survey of rural households. The results appear consistent with the dual nature of Fijifs agricultural sector and show that agricultural supply response in Fiji is own-price elastic for the ten commodities analysed. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31106 Title: Designing an effective evaluation model for the South African Department of Agriculture <br/> <br/>Authors: Madzivhandila, Percy; Griffith, Garry; Fleming, Euan <br/> <br/>Abstract: Governments are under increasing pressure to deliver results. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the public service in implementing policies and programmes for social betterment. Without such evaluations, it is difficult to ensure that evidence is integrated into policy and used in practice due to lack of generalizability and learning. This paper focuses on (1) the knowledge that is relevant to understand evaluation influence, (2) the possible conceptual frameworks that enable understanding of the evaluation implementation process, (3) possible models of the process of organizational evaluation, and (4) the main ways of intervening to increase influence. The context for analysis is the South African Department of Agriculture. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31105 Title: Determinants of Participation in a Catastrophe Insurance Programme: Empirical Evidence from a Developing Country <br/> <br/>Authors: Akter, Sonia; Brouwer, Roy; Chowdhury, Saria; Aziz, Salina <br/> <br/>Abstract: The paper presents empirical evidence of the determinants of catastrophe insurance participation in one of the poorest and most disaster prone countries in the world. In a large-scale household survey carried out in 2006 we ask 3,000 residents in six different districts in Bangladesh facing various environmental risk exposure levels about their willingness to participate in a catastrophe insurance programme. Combining factors put forward in risk theory and economics, we estimate a model of insurance participation. We show that the household decision to participate in the insurance programme differs depending on both exogenous and endogenous risk exposure levels. As predicted by micro-economic theory, ability to pay, measured in terms of household income and access to credit, significantly affects insurance participation. Furthermore, among the sociodemographic factors investigated in this case study, respondent education and occupation are found to significantly influence household decision making. Our study suggests that low participation rates for catastrophe insurance in a developing country can be explained by high rates of illiteracy and limited access to credit. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31103 Title: The economic cost of wetland destruction <br/> <br/>Authors: Schmidt, Carmel Elizabeth <br/> <br/>Abstract: Wetlands are often refereed to as the ‘kidney of the river’, but what is the value of the water filtration they provide, and what is the cost of wetland destruction? This paper determines the economic value of wetlands for water filtration. It demonstrates that wetlands are of considerable economic value, even where the volume of water filtered is in excess of that required for domestic consumption. It argues that if legislation required those who destroy natural wetlands to replace the water filtration process the wetlands once provided, it would be necessary to construct water filtration plants at significant cost. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31102 Title: A Multiple Criteria Decision System to Improve Performance of Federal Conservation Programs <br/> <br/>Authors: Özgöç-Çağlar, C. Derya; Farnsworth, Richard L. <br/> <br/>Abstract: The Environmental Quality Incentives Program and other voluntary Federal conservation programs follow a similar approach for enrollment. Consistent with the legislation, agency personnel identify eligibility criteria, suitable conservation practices, and a process to score, rank, and select applications for funding. Our research outlines a formal multiple criteria decision analysis system that is broadly applicable to current Federal conservation programs to score, rank, and enroll applications, and distribute program funds. Then, we apply the decision system to Indiana’s EQIP program using data from 2005. The incorporation of GLEAMS model improved our estimates of water quality impacts by reintroducing the spatial heterogeneity. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31101 Title: Hybrid Rice: Economic Assessment of a Promising Technology for Sustainable Food Grain Production in Bangladesh <br/> <br/>Authors: Azad, Md Abdus Samad; Mustafi, B.A.A.; Hossian, Mahabub <br/> <br/>Abstract: Hybrid rice, one of the viable and proven technologies has been considered as a new frontier to increase rice production for meeting growing demand for staple food in Bangladesh. Using farm survey data this paper examines comparative profitability of hybrid and inbred rice cultivation and estimates a Stochastic Frontier Function to determine the effect of key variables on farm efficiency. Results show that hybrid rice gives substantially higher yield as well as net return compared to inbred rice which leads to increase and sustainable growth of food grain production. Analysis of Stochastic Frontier model shows hybrid rice farms are technically more efficient than inbred. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31100 Title: Valuing the biodiversity gains from protecting native plant communities from bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp rotundata (DC.) T.Norl.) in New South Wales: application of the defensive expenditure method <br/> <br/>Authors: Sinden, J.A.; Downey, Paul O.; Hester, Susan M.; Cacho, Oscar <br/> <br/>Abstract: Valuation of the gains from protection of biodiversity is difficult because the services that provide the benefits do not normally pass through markets where prices can form. But the services sometimes pass through markets where consumers or producers behave in a market-oriented manner, and so the values implicit in this behaviour can be identified and derived. Estimates of the benefits of biodiversity protection are derived from the costs of protecting native plant communities from a major weed in Australia, by following this approach. In 1999, invasion of coastal areas of New South Wales by bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata (DC.) T. Norl.) was listed as a key process threatening native plants under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. In accordance with the Act, the Department of Environment and Climate Change prepared a Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) to reduce the impacts of bitou bush on biodiversity at each threatened site. The costs of protecting sites vary closely with the number of priority native species and communities at each site. Following standard economic assumptions about market transactions, these costs are interpreted to provide values the benefits of protecting extra species, communities, and sites. Key words: Bitou bush, Chrysanthemoides monilifera, threat abatement plan, valuation of biodiversity, benefit-cost analysis, weed control, defensive-expenditure method. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31099 Title: Recovering Preferences from a Dual-Market Locational Equilibrium <br/> <br/>Authors: Kuminoff, Nicolai V. <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper develops a new structural estimator that uses the properties of a market equilibrium, together with information on households and their observed location choices, to recover horizontally differentiated preferences for a vector of local public goods. The estimation is consistent with equilibrium capitalization of local public goods and recognizes that job and house location choices are interrelated. By using set identification to distinguish the identifying power of restrictions on the indirect utility function from the identifying power of assumptions on the distribution of preferences, the estimator provides a new perspective on characteristics-based models of the demand for a differentiated product. The estimator is used to recover distributions of the marginal willingness-to-pay for improved air quality in Northern California’s two largest population centers: the San Francisco and Sacramento metropolitan areas. The average marginal willingness-to-pay increases by up to 190% when job opportunities are included as a dimension of location choice. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31098 Title: Monitoring of compliance in Australian conservation contracts <br/> <br/>Authors: Crowe, Bronwyn; White, Ben; Pannell, Dave; Lindner, Bob <br/> <br/>Abstract: Government and non-government conservation agencies have long-term goals and objectives to provide environmental services, such as conserving the biodiversity of Australian native vegetation. In addition to national parks and reserves, private lands are often included in conservation programs to achieve these objectives. Formal contracts are entered into between the private landholder and the conservation agency to provide environmental services, or more commonly to provide inputs that are likely to lead to environmental services. The paper examines the costs and benefits of monitoring these conservation contracts when biodiversity change is stochastic. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31097 Title: Professionalisation of Australian Agricultural Economics: 1920 - 1970 <br/> <br/>Authors: Myers, Laurel <br/> <br/>Abstract: Australian agricultural economics was on the verge of professional recognition at the beginning of the 1950s. The discipline had emerged from the Second World War in a strong position due primarily to the work of the State Departments of Agriculture, the Economics Departments of the banks, and the pioneering efforts of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Agricultural economics as a field of study was being taken up by economics and agricultural science students alike, and research projects in agricultural economics were burgeoning. This paper investigates the factors which contributed to the professionalisation of agricultural economics in Australia after the Second World War. All vocations aspire to professional status but, even when it does receive professional recognition, a vocation is often still questioned regarding the legitimacy of that status. It is therefore significant to explore the origins and evolution of the agricultural economics profession in order to discover the reasons why it came into existence and the process by which the professionalisation occurred. The changed economic environment during and after the Second World War meant that agricultural economists were given opportunities to present a convincing case to pursue the professionalisation of their discipline. The distinguishing and overruling characteristic of a profession is the possession of specialized knowledge which has been acquired as a result of prolonged training. The knowledge is intellectual and based on the exploration of a recognized field of study. The way in which this knowledge is obtained is an important part of the professionalisation process. This paper identifies the economists and scientists who established the discipline of agricultural economics in Australian universities and set it on the path to professionalisation. The second most important aspect of professionalisation is the formation of a professional society for members and the development of a professional journal to disseminate research and other general information to members. The formation of the professional organisation associated with agricultural economics in Australia is examined in this paper. Australian agricultural economics was at the peak of its influence in the 1970s. All the mainland universities had at least one professor of agricultural economics, there was a strong professional association, annual conferences, and bi-annual outlook conferences, and three separate professional journals were in publication. The value of the agricultural economics profession was widely accepted throughout the policy community. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31096 Title: Structuring Exotic Options Contracts on Water to Improve the Efficiency of Resource Allocation in the Water Spot Market <br/> <br/>Authors: Williamson, Brendon; Villano, Renato; Fleming, Euan <br/> <br/>Abstract: With the current drought in South-Eastern Australia highlighting the scarcity and value of inland Australia’s water resources, focus turns to how these resources can be allocated more efficiently. The first major step was taken almost a decade ago with the separation of land and water property rights allowing openly traded water markets. This study assesses the potential economic benefits that options contracts bring to the water market in the Murray Valley water market. Exotic call options are estimated using both Black-Scholes and skewness-and-kurtosis-amended Black-Scholes financial option pricing methods that are based on three years of data on water prices. While the presence of options would result in significant economic benefits in the more efficient trade of water on the open market for lower-value crops, there were mixed results from the attempt to price such options. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31095 Title: PRODUCT AND BRANDING INNOVATIONS IN THE AUSTRALIAN BEEF MARKETING SYSTEM <br/> <br/>Authors: Morales, Luis Emilio; Fleming, Euan; Wright, Vic; Griffith, Garry; Umberger, Wendy <br/> <br/>Abstract: Meat Standards Australia (MSA) represents a new beef classification system, derived from consumer preferences, which allows classifying beef in interesting ways to consumers and creates the basis for product differentiation and branding. Currently, branding of beef cuts occurs on a limited scale; however, research has revealed clear segmentation across consumers and premiums for preferred products in niche markets. The objective of this study is to identify the potential for large-scale differentiation and branding in the Australian beef marketing system and how this may best be done given the structure of the supply chain. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31094 Title: THE USE OF ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS IN TRANSITIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: CASE STUDY OF MACEDONIAN PATH TO MEET GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGES <br/> <br/>Authors: Nedanovski, Pece <br/> <br/>Abstract: The demand for harmonization of domestic policies across countries is seen as a precondition for globalization. Does globalization conflict with environmental protection? The relationship between two of them is too complex. From the viewpoint of its protection, the environment must be seen as a whole. In the same time, the utility function based on income and pollution, is not identical and homothetic across different countries. It appears that the diversity in environmental protection is legitimate. In order to provide a sustainable environmental policy in transitional circumstances, the R. of Macedonia needs a balance between the goals of social development, economic progress and environmental protection. So far, because of the institutional development gap, only few economic instruments have been implemented in environmental protection in Macedonia. Consequently, the environmental policy including economic instruments should be considered with a view to balance the environmental achievements with its social and economic implications. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31093 Title: Valuing the benefits from preserving threatened native fauna and flora from invasive animal pests <br/> <br/>Authors: Gong, Wendy; Sinden, Jack; Jones, Randall <br/> <br/>Abstract: Invasive animal pests inflict many kinds of damage on the environment, and threaten native fauna and flora. We attempt to value the benefits from the extra biodiversity that is protected if these threats were removed. The NSW Rural Lands Protection Board is a major agency that undertakes pest control, and is organised into 48 districts across the state. A cross-sectional set of data on Board expenditures, pest abundance, and environmental and climatic characteristics, was compiled by district and analysed. The number of threatened native plant and animal species increases with pest abundance and with the total number of native species present in the district. But the number of threatened species decreases as Board expenditures on pest control increase. The value of preserving an extra species is derived from these changes in expenditure, following conventional economic principles. Then the potential gain in economic surplus is estimated if the threats to biodiversity were removed. The results so far suggest that the value of the total benefit of protecting an extra species is at least $44,250 per year, and the potential gain in surplus for New South Wales if the threats were removed is at least $132m per year. This change in surplus is also the total economic loss because invasive pests threaten native flora and fauna. If only half the native species could be protected, the avoidable economic loss is at least $95.7m per year. The assumptions and limitations of these estimates are discussed. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/123456789/31092 Title: Evidence of Scope Economies in Australian Agriculture <br/> <br/>Authors: Villano, Renato; Fleming, Pauline; Fleming, Euan <br/> <br/>Abstract: Scope economies can be used in studies of farming systems to provide a measure of synergies between different farm enterprises and between activities within farm enterprises. In this paper, they are reported for farms in three benchmarking groups in Australia by estimating stochastic input distance functions and calculating an 'economies of scope parameter'. Evidence of significant scope economies between sheep and crop enterprises, and between beef and crop enterprises, is presented and discussed. Similar evidence is reported between wool and lamb activities and wool and mature sheep trading activities within the sheep enterprise.