《Agricultural Economics》2022年第53卷第4期目录及摘要
全文链接：
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15740862/2022/53/4
Social interaction and geographic diffusion of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda
Jose Funes, Laixiang Sun, Fernando Sedano, Giovanni Baiocchi, Todd Benson
Addressing food safety challenges in rapidly developing food systems
Laurian J. Unnevehr
African agricultural development: How are we contributing?
Nick Vink
Agriculture in a more uncertain global trade environment
Kym Anderson
Trade and food security in a climate change-impacted world
Paul Brenton, Vicky Chemutai, Mari Pangestu
Disequilibrium effects from misallocated markets: An application to agriculture
Flavius Badau, Nicholas Rada
The importance of specification choices when analyzing sectoral productivity gaps
Joshua D. Merfeld, Peter Brummund
Are religious farmers more risk taking? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia
Goytom Abraha Kahsay, Workineh Asmare Kassie, Haileselassie Medhin, Lars Gårn Hansen
Nitrate leaching and efficiency measurement in intensive farming systems: A parametric by-production technology approach
Michail Tsagris, Vangelis Tzouvelekas
Reducing pesticide use through optimal reallocation at different spatial scales: The case of French arable farming
Salomé Kahindo, Stéphane Blancard
Social interaction and geographic diffusion of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda
Jose Funes Laixiang Sun Fernando Sedano Giovanni Baiocchi Todd Benson
Abstract：This study analyzes smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt beans with higher levels of dietary iron developed through a conventional breeding technique called biofortification. We approach this study by applying spatial econometric techniques to estimate neighborhood influence and to determine the factors driving the adoption of iron-biofortified beans (IBB). We employ a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of bean producing households from 2015 bean growing season B in Rwanda, and present results for growers of both bush and climbing varieties of beans. The results show geographic diffusion of iron bean planting material occurs among neighboring farmers that exhibit interdependent decision-making patterns, as well as similar characteristics relative to the group. Some policy implications can be drawn from the results. First, a differentiated geographical targeting strategy for bush and climbing bean varieties as a function of farmer and farm characteristics should increase iron bean adoption rates. Second, strengthening partnerships with delivery agents and extensionists should stimulate the adoption of IBB varieties. And finally, technology-promotion programs that consider progressive farmers and strengthen social interactions and group activities among peer networks should increase the spread of information and diffusion of IBB.
Addressing food safety challenges in rapidly developing food systems
Laurian J. Unnevehr
Abstract：During the past decade, there has been growing awareness of the importance of food safety in developing countries. WHO estimates for 2010 show that the burden of illness from food safety worldwide is comparable to that of malaria and tuberculosis. Furthermore, the dietary transition and associated market transformation will alter and possibly increase food safety risks. Agricultural economic research has moved beyond the question of how food safety standards constitute potential export barriers to consider how food safety incentives and policies may improve food system performance in rapidly growing economies. In this regard, this paper considers the state of the art for answering four questions: How important is food safety in developing countries in terms of both public health and market performance? Why is food safety likely to become more important and more costly as more countries pass through the dietary transition? Are market incentives for improved food safety likely to emerge? What kind of policies can help to ensure a safer food supply in developing country's food systems? While much is still unknown, improving food safety is feasible, but as in high income countries, rarely simple to achieve.
African agricultural development: How are we contributing?
Nick Vink
Abstract：A database of journal articles and conference papers that cover the economics of agricultural development in Africa during the period 2016–2020 was compiled. These papers are first described in terms of demographic and bibliometric criteria, followed by a network analysis of the main centers of origin and of influence of this research. Finally, three different processes were used to test the policy relevance of the work. These include a simple enumeration of the policy recommendations in a sample of the papers, a megatrend analysis, and a comparison of their focus with the standard narrative of the role of agriculture in economic development. The results show that a large proportion of the literature is not forward-looking, and is weak on policy relevance. We ignore a number of issues that engage the attention of those concerned with implementing structural change in agriculture across the many very different but very real natural resource, political, social, economic, and technological environments around the continent.
Agriculture in a more uncertain global trade environment
Kym Anderson
Abstract：The global trade environment is more uncertain now than it has been for decades. In the short term, bilateral trade “wars” and the COVID-19 pandemic have added to longer-term uncertainties such as sporadic national policy responses to climate change, to the digital revolution, to up-scaled assertiveness and economic coercion by rapidly growing China, and to antiglobalization groups. The underlying concerns could be reduced through greater multilateral cooperation, but that has been in short supply in recent years, not least because of eroding support for globalization. This article re-examines the case for greater unilateral openness to agricultural trade in the wake of uneven economic growth and structural transformation as food systems respond to this increased uncertainty and to growing pressures for agriculture to become more sustainable and for food to be safer and more nutritious. The article concludes by pointing to better policy options than trade measures for achieving most national objectives—options that can simultaneously benefit the rest of the world in terms of easing natural resource and environmental stresses while supporting economic growth and reducing national and global poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and inequalities in income, wealth, and health.
Trade and food security in a climate change-impacted world
Paul Brenton Vicky Chemutai Mari Pangestu
Abstract：Today's climate-turbulent world is rife with food insecurity—threatening economic development trajectories by stunting growth, subsequently reducing employability and labor productivity, especially for developing countries. The pandemic has exacerbated these adverse effects and reveals the critical need to put in place policies that can safeguard and sustain trade flows in agricultural products. For the vast majority of countries, food security cannot be guaranteed by domestic production alone. If certain crops are domestically untenable or yields are temporarily poor, imports are essential. Additionally, exports of agricultural products provide a major source of income for some of the poorest people around the world. This article explores the interplay between climate change, the production and the trade of agricultural products, and the resulting food security implications. It then examines the existing trade policies governing agricultural trade and provides recommendations for action at the global, regional, and country levels.
Disequilibrium effects from misallocated markets: An application to agriculture
Flavius Badau Nicholas Rada
Abstract：Prices and the allocation of resources are essential components of efficient markets. Yet due to market failures or other imperfections, observed prices, and the allocation of resources can diverge from socially optimum equilibria, misinforming private and public decision making and distorting welfare. In this study, we present a two-step framework for valuing market inefficiencies and the foregone monetary value from disequilibrium. Specifically, we measure the degree that observed prices and quantities diverge from equilibrium and capture this divergence in terms of foregone revenue impacts. Empirically, we illustrate this framework using Indian agricultural data, where we estimate that on average and over the study period this particular market has been underpriced and overproduced compared to the estimated efficient equilibrium. The potential additional gains in value to Indian agriculture from correcting this market disequilibrium ranges from $11 billion USD to $75 billion USD depending on the degree of disequilibrium and the adjustment level.
The importance of specification choices when analyzing sectoral productivity gaps
Joshua D. Merfeld Peter Brummund
Abstract：A consistent finding in the development literature is that average non-farm labor productivity is higher than average farm labor productivity. These differences in average productivity are sometimes used to promote policies which advance the non-farm sector. In this article, we analyze the importance of two specification choices when comparing productivity gaps, using detailed household panel data from Malawi. Importantly, we are able to calculate both average revenue products (ARPLs)—similar to most of the sectoral productivity gap literature—as well as marginal revenue products (MRPLs). We show that the choice of productivity measure combined with the choice of production function specification can lead to different sectoral productivity rankings. MRPLs from translog production functions suggest the household farm sector is more productive than the household non-farm sector, while MRPLs from a Cobb-Douglas and ARPLs from both a translog and a Cobb-Douglas find the opposite ranking.
Are religious farmers more risk taking? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia
Goytom Abraha Kahsay Workineh Asmare Kassie Haileselassie Medhin Lars Gårn Hansen
Abstract：There is growing evidence that religiosity affects important socio-economic outcomes. A potential channel through which religiosity affects these outcomes is by shaping individuals’ risk preferences. We combine a lab-in-the-field experiment, survey, and focus-group discussions to investigate the effect of religiosity on risk-taking among rural people in Ethiopia. We find evidence that religious farmers are more risk-taking. The effect is likely driven by the trust/belief in God as the omniscient and just power in determining outcomes under uncertainty. This is further corroborated by results from follow-up focus-group discussions.
Nitrate leaching and efficiency measurement in intensive farming systems: A parametric by-production technology approach
Michail Tsagris Vangelis Tzouvelekas
Abstract：This paper develops a novel empirical framework for estimating individual emission levels in a nonpoint source (NPS) pollution problem. For doing so, we build upon the sequential GME model suggested by Kaplan et al. using a specific theoretical structure describing both crop production technology and nature's residual generating mechanism in line with the multiple production relations model suggested by Murty et al. Our empirical model is fitted into a parametric stochastic framework and it is applied to a nitrogen leaching problem in a sample of 257 small-scale greenhouse farms in Crete, Greece during the 2005–2006 cropping period. Empirical results indicate a great dispersion of individual nitrate leaching levels, which are associated with low- and high-profit margins. Improvements in nitrate leaching and fertilizer application efficiency can decrease significantly individual leaching levels providing a more cost effective way to improve water quality in the area.
Reducing pesticide use through optimal reallocation at different spatial scales: The case of French arable farming
Salomé Kahindo Stéphane Blancard
Abstract：Reduction of pesticide use is one of the major challenges in the agricultural sector. Several methods, including efficiency analysis, have been proposed to address this issue. In general, efficiency analysis in the use of pesticides is conducted at the individual level (e.g., farm). We here propose to extend this analysis from farm level to aggregate (or district) level. In addition to the potential pesticide reduction by eliminating individual inefficiency, we measure the reduction due to the reallocation of productive activity across farms, within increasingly large spatial units. Results show that pesticides could be reduced by more than 50% in a sample of farms in the French Department of Meuse during 2014–2016, after eliminating individual technical inefficiency and reallocating activities across farms at the largest spatial unit, while producing at least the same output. Therefore, the reallocation associated with inefficiency elimination can help achieve the pesticide reduction targets set by several countries.
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