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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Crop-Livestock Subsystem And Livelihood Dynamics In The Harar Highlands Of Ethiopia, Habtemariam Kassa, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson
The Crop-Livestock Subsystem And Livelihood Dynamics In The Harar Highlands Of Ethiopia, Habtemariam Kassa, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson
Agribusiness
Policy makers and extension planners often assume smallholder mixed farming systems are incapable of evolving fast enough to meet growing food demands and that livestock are relatively unimportant to household food production or welfare (FDRE, 1994), except for intensive units. The resulting policy promotes substitution of either intensive cropping or livestock production in place of the traditional mixed portfolio. Although widely promoted in the Harar Highlands, farmers resist these recommendations in favour of more diverse and integrated systems with crops, livestock, and non-agricultural activities. The contrast between what policy makers and development practitioners think and what farmers do signifies misunderstanding …
Livestock Land Use Change, And Environmental Outcomes, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson
Livestock Land Use Change, And Environmental Outcomes, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson
Agribusiness
Rapid predicted worldwide growth in demand for animal products to 2020—the so-called “next food revolution” in animal agriculture—portends complex interactions among people, biological and geophysical resources, and economic objectives. A restructuring of global food demands is expected: in contrast to current patterns, most (>60%) global production of meat and milk will be consumed by households in the developing countries (Delgado et al., 1999). The key drivers of this change are income growth, population growth, urbanization, and increased opportunities for trade. We identified some of the environmental risks, and recuperative effects, of animal agriculture in a recent article (Nicholson et …
Soil, Plant And Cattle Nutrient Dynamics On Pastures Of The Western Amazon Of Brazil, B. Rueda, R. W. Blake, E. Fernandes, Charles F. Nicholson, J. F. Valentim
Soil, Plant And Cattle Nutrient Dynamics On Pastures Of The Western Amazon Of Brazil, B. Rueda, R. W. Blake, E. Fernandes, Charles F. Nicholson, J. F. Valentim
Agribusiness
Cattle production on Brachiaria pastures is a primary use of cleared forestland in the western Brazilian Amazon. About 6.8 million hectares in the States of Acre and Rondônia have been deforested, where 75% of land is now grazed (IBGE, 1998). The principal pasture species are B. brizantha and B. decumbens with the latter in decline from spittlebug susceptibility (Deois incompleta; Gonçalves et al., 1996). The general pattern of pasture establishment in the Amazon basin includes felling and burning forest biomass, planting annual crops for one to three years (especially on small farms), and then seeding to grasses. The …
Taxes And Quality: A Market-Level Analysis, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston
Taxes And Quality: A Market-Level Analysis, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston
Agribusiness
A conventional assumption of product homogeneity when the commodity of interest is actually heterogeneous will lead to errors in an analysis of the incidence of policies, such as taxes. In this article, an equilibrium displacement model is used to derive analytical solutions for price, quantity, and quality effects of ad valorem and per unit taxes. The results show how parameters determine the effects of tax policies on quality. The potential for tax-induced distortions in quality, and the distributive consequences of those distortions, are illustrated in a case study of the market for Australian wine.
The Economic Feasibility Of Forming A California Wheat Cooperative, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, David J. Schaffner, Jill Johnson, Kristina Muelrath, Kyle Schroeder
The Economic Feasibility Of Forming A California Wheat Cooperative, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, David J. Schaffner, Jill Johnson, Kristina Muelrath, Kyle Schroeder
Agribusiness
Recent concerns relative to California farm gate prices for wheat and a lack of profitability in wheat production has been expressed by a group of California wheat growers. Their dissatisfaction has resulted in their consideration to form a California wheat grower cooperative. The cooperative would become the marketing agent for the growers and potentially allow growers to pool their production for greater market power as well as capture profits beyond the farm gate. Two feasibility issues are addressed by the study: 1) The organizational feasibility of forming the cooperative, and 2) The economic feasibility of a California wheat growers cooperative …
A Multiattribute Utility Analysis Of Technological Choice In The California Wild Rice Industry, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, Jess Errecarte, Kyle Schroeder
A Multiattribute Utility Analysis Of Technological Choice In The California Wild Rice Industry, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, Jess Errecarte, Kyle Schroeder
Agribusiness
The California wild rice industry in 2001 is undergoing change. This change is being driven by increased wild rice production, changes in wild rice demand, and buyer concerns relative to product quality and food safety. These changes necessitate the need for the industry to evaluate its operational and marketing strategies. A major concern of the industry is how to meet the on-going changes while remaining profitable. The major emphasis of this study to evaluate two of the technological choices that are available to meet those changes. The technologies are a traditional technology and newer experimental technology that has been conceptualized, …
The Incidence Of Agricultural Policy, Julian M. Alston, Jennifer S. James
The Incidence Of Agricultural Policy, Julian M. Alston, Jennifer S. James
Agribusiness
This chapter first discusses what economists mean by "the incidence of agricultural policy" and why we care about it. Then it reviews models of the determinants of the differential incidence of different policies among interest groups such as suppliers of factors of production, consumers, middlemen, taxpayers, and others. Results are represented in terms of Marshallian economic surplus, and surplus transformation curves. After reviewing the results from standard models under restrictive assumptions, certain assumptions are relaxed in order to analyze the effects of imperfect supply controls, variability, cheating and imperfect enforcement of policies, and the dynamics of supply.
Oak Woodland Economics: A Contingent Valuation Of Conversion Alternatives, Richard P. Thompson, Jay E. Noel, Sarah P. Cross
Oak Woodland Economics: A Contingent Valuation Of Conversion Alternatives, Richard P. Thompson, Jay E. Noel, Sarah P. Cross
Agribusiness
Decisions on how much land should be devoted to oak woodland preservation is ultimately determined by society's valuation of its benefits and relative scarcity. Scarcity value can be measured by people's willingness-to-pay (WTP) to prevent oak woodland conversion to higher value land uses. In this study, we used the contingent valuation (CV) method to estimate WTP for oak woodland preservation in San Luis Obispo County (over 700,000 acres). Estimates ranged between $75 and $83 per voter, providing only about $12 million for land or easement purchases.