Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles) ISSN (Print) 0165-1587 - ISSN (Online) 1464-3618 Published by Oxford University Press[370 journals]
Authors:Garnache C; Mérel P, Howitt R, et al. First page: 363 Abstract: This paper proposes a new information-based method to calibrate the shadow values of constraints in Positive Mathematical Programming models of agricultural supply. Shadow values are chosen so as to minimise model deviation from observed activity- and input-specific expenditures, enhancing the informational basis of the calibrated model. We provide an application to nitrogen policy in California using an agronomically and economically calibrated regionalised model. Regional shadow values of water are generally much higher than those suggested by the traditional method of Howitt, R. E. (1995b. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77(2): 329–342). The implied statewide elasticity of demand for nitrogen is minimally affected by the choice of shadow values, however predicted environmental outcomes differ as this choice affects the distribution of nitrogen across regions and crops. PubDate: 2017-04-18 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbx005
Authors:Vollmer E; Hermann D, Mußhoff O. First page: 399 Abstract: This paper investigates the explanatory power of the risk attitude measured with the Holt and Laury (HL) task for farmers’ production decision behaviour. In order to achieve this, a Just and Pope production function is estimated using panel data of German farmers. The results show that the farmers’ risk attitude elicited using the HL task is correlated with their respective production risk. With higher risk aversion, less production risk is tolerated. Consequently, a neutrally framed HL task is proven to be an appropriate reflection of the risk farmers take in real production decisions. PubDate: 2017-04-05 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbx004
Authors:Pieralli S; Hüttel S, Odening M. First page: 425 Abstract: This article examines the impact of technical efficiency on farmers’ irreversible optimal exit timing in a real options model. The model suggests that both higher efficiency and higher output price volatility make the farm more reluctant to irreversibly exit production. We test these hypotheses using farm panel data from 1997 to 2011 for milk producers in western Germany. Our findings confirm that ceasing operations in the dairy branch correlates with low efficiency of milk production and higher efficiency in other branches. A mild deviation from optimality, however, does not trigger immediate abandonment. Moreover, we find an attenuated impact of efficiency under more volatile market conditions. PubDate: 2017-03-09 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbx001
Authors:Drichoutis AC; Vassilopoulos A, Lusk JL, et al. First page: 455 Abstract: High-profile cases of exploitative labour practices have increased concerns over agricultural working conditions. However, it is unclear to what extent the public is willing to trade-off fair working conditions for higher prices. We implement a large-scale survey in Greece to uncover consumer preferences for a food labelling system that certifies fair working conditions for the workers employed in agricultural production. With our most conservative estimates, we find that consumers are willing to pay an average premium of 53 cents of a Euro per 500 g, 95 per cent CI [43.9, 62.3], for strawberries with fair labour certification. This result suggests that consumers do value the better treatment of workers in the agricultural sector. It also suggests that there is a current market failure, created by the asymmetry of information between consumers and producers, that can be the basis of discussion for alternative labelling schemes involving fair labour labels. We also tested a number of known biases associated with consumer behaviour or the contingent valuation method and found the positive willingness-to-pay result to be robust. PubDate: 2017-03-03 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbx002
Authors:Samson GS; Gardebroek C, Jongeneel RA. First page: 475 Abstract: The abolition of milk quota fuels environmental concerns in the Netherlands. A microeconomic model is developed to analyse the technical relations between milk, roughage and manure production. Production functions for milk, feed and roughage are estimated based on milk quota and manure constraints. Together with an equation for manure production these are used to calculate the costs and benefits of dairy livestock expansion. It turns out that at the margin and at prevailing input and output prices and manure processing costs, it will be attractive for dairy farms to expand production, unless regulatory constraints prevent them from doing so. PubDate: 2017-01-11 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbw025
Authors:Esposti R. First page: 499 Abstract: This article proposes a methodological approach to identify and estimate the farm response to decoupling as a treatment effect. The outcome of ‘market orientation’ is measured by considering both the change of the production mix and the investment decisions. In order to admit different responses across different support levels, the dose–response function is estimated adopting recent alternative continuous-treatment estimators. The application concerns the impact of the 2003/2005 EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform on the production choices within a balanced sample of Italian farms. Results confirm that farm response varies across support levels and show that the 2003/2005 reform of the first pillar of the CAP actually had a different, and somehow, opposite impact in reorienting farm production choices compared to investment decisions. PubDate: 2016-12-02 DOI: 10.1093/erae/jbw021
Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
[370 journals]
