Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Exploring The Right To Food Advocacy Landscape In The United States, Andrew Indomenico, Peppi Delliquadri, Chelsea Marshall, Alison Cohen, Josh Lohnes

CRC Research Symposium

The National Right to Food (RtF) Community of Practice (CoP) is a membership-based national coalition of advocates and organizations working to advance the RtF in our cities, towns, and states. This research project sought to understand (1) how a membership based organization like the CoP grows into a social movement defined by the visions and needs of its participants, and (2) what the added value is of weaving together existing local and state efforts into a national movement. Through surveys (n= 54) and interviews (n=20) of CoP members, this research sought to understand individual perceptions of RtF principles, and food …

The Public Utility Regulation Of Dollar General, Olivia R. Sokos

West Virginia Law Review

As food insecurity persists across the country, few solutions have been proposed to address the lack of access to healthy food in rural regions. This Note explores whether public utilities regulation is a theoretical avenue for addressing rural food deserts. The contribution of this Note is to encourage the recognition of healthy food as a critical public good through a modern public utility lens and build solutions to inadequate food access in rural regions by considering the qualities unique to rural populations. One solution proposed herein is to apply a modern public utility framework to dollar stores, ensuring reliable and …

Three Essays On Sustainability Economics, Hélène Flore Nguemgaing

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As global economies face increasing resource dependencies and supply chain challenges, it becomes essential to understand the vulnerabilities that threaten economic stability. This dissertation investigates three empirical issues in agribusiness and critical minerals using econometric models to estimate the following: 1) the impact of supply chain disruptions on stock market returns during COVID-19; 2) the extraction of rare earth elements from acid mine drainage treatment by investigating the impacts of ownership and legislation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania; 3) China-to�FOBb (Free-on-Board) price transmission in rare earth elements markets: a copula-based dynamic tail dependence analysis.

The first essay evaluates how events …

Three Essays On Environmental Regulation And Economic Revitalization In Energy Rich Regions, Young Gwan Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that investigate the environmental and regulatory dimensions of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development and place-based policy in the United States. The research examines how energy production activities interact with water resource management, regulatory compliance behavior, and regional economic resilience. By integrating empirical modeling, quasi-experimental methods, and policy evaluation, the dissertation provides new insights into how environmental risks and economic tradeoffs are shaped by regulatory constraints, strategic behavior of regulated entities, and government interventions in extractive regions. Managing produced water from unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production is a growing environmental challenge, particularly as …

Exploring The Intersection Between West Virginia Farmland Protection Boards, Landowners, And The West Virginia Agrarian Commons, Samuel W. Bayne, Joshua Lohnes

Undergraduate Scholarship

New Roots Community Farm (NRCF) came to life through the purchase of a piece of land by the Fayette County Farmland Protection Board in a buy-protect-sell model. NRCF then partnered with The Agrarian Land Trust, a New England based organization experimenting with land commons models across the United States, to purchase the property and create the West Virginia Agrarian Commons (WVAC), an entity that could advance land access for the next generation farmers in WV. The experience of NRCF and the WVAC and the vision for its operation and extension of the buy-protect-sell model in partnership with county farmland protection …

Three Essays On Externalities Of Energy And Agricultural Production, Taiwo Foluso Akinyemi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays exploring the externalities that arise from energy production and development in a developing country, Nigeria, and agricultural production in a developed nation, the United States (US). The research examines the benefits of energy development in terms of its impact on local wealth and the associated costs, including the health effects on communities living near energy production sites. Additionally, the dissertation analyzes the opportunity costs of policies aimed at preventing the relocation of nutrients, particularly nitrogen fertilizers, within the agricultural sector and their impact on the producer and consumer surplus.

The first essay examines the …

Three Essays On Health And Environmental Economics: Applications Of Spatial Econometrics And Spatial Analysis, Mohammed Syedul Islam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Spatial interaction and the locational structure between observations play key roles in the field of econometrics for both cross-sectional and panel data analysis. Compared to a non-spatial econometric model, a spatial model relaxes the assumption of independency in observations. This research applies spatial and non-spatial econometrics in three different fields of applied economics: (1) drinking water and air quality violations impacts on lung and bronchus cancer incidence in the contiguous United States (U.S.); (2) spillover effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID-19 cases across the contiguous U.S. counties; and (3) urbanization impacts on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in …

The Economics Of Pollution: Policy, Productivity, And The Structure Of Road Networks, Michael Cary

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Air pollution impacts economic activity, and economic activity creates air pollution. Understanding this endogenous nexus is critical as any policy designed to affect one will inevitably affect the other. My research explores both sides of this nexus. Specifically, I identify the economic effects from the implementation of an international climate agreement (the Kyoto Protocol); I determine the impact of air pollution on physical productivity and determine which pollutants are responsible for this effect; and I link urban form to vehicular emissions via the structure of road networks.

The first chapter of this dissertation studies the impact of the Kyoto Protocol …

Three Essays On Environmental And Energy Economics, Maher F. Mekky

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this dissertation, three related topics are investigated about environmental and energy economics. The research in these essays utilize panel data and regression models. The overall theme of these essays is to explore the relationships between energy and the environment in the United States (U.S.).

In the first essay, using data from fifty U.S. states between 2012 and 2020, the impacts of three types of state level policies on electric vehicles (EV) adoption are examined: 1) policies that mitigate the environmental impacts from energy production, 2) policies that provide financial incentives to consumers for EV purchase, and 3) policies that …

Carbon Emissions, Abatement, And Natural Disasters: Politics And Social Institutions, Ritika Khurana

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation empirically examines three issues related to renewable energy and international development: 1) The Political Economy of Solar Initiatives in the Sunshine State; 2) Climate Change, Natural disasters, and Institutional Integrity; and 3) Institutional Integrity and Carbon emissions.

In Chapter 2, I empirically examine the outcomes of two solar energy amendments that were on the ballot in Florida in 2016. One amendment exempts solar energy devices from ad valorem taxation of real estate property, effectively decreasing the cost of solar energy for those who adopt solar photovoltaic panels. The other amendment reaffirms the right of property owners to install …

Optimization And Analytics Of Decarbonized Forest And Biomass Supply Chains, Xufeng Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

First, a data-driven holistic analysis framework was developed to aid the industrial development of forest biomass for bioenergy to promote the regional bioeconomy. Leveraging the existing but fragmented multi-source data, four components of industrial bioenergy development were integrated into the framework including spatial statistical analysis of biomass feedstock and bioenergy production, machine learning-based suitability assessment, bioenergy plant sites identification and ranking, and socio-economic impacts assessment. A case study was conducted for forest biomass to pellet fuel in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. Our results indicate that the great potential of forest biomass with high variation at the county level is primarily …

The Impact Of Supply Chain Disruptions On Stock Market Returns During Covid-19, Hélène Flore Nguemgaing, Ana Claudia Sant’Anna

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Purpose: How has Covid-19 impacted meat processors’ stock returns? We evaluate the effects of supply chain disruptions (e.g., lockdowns and Covid-19 incidences among workers) on stock market prices of meat processors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach This study uses an event study approach to examine the disruptions from COVID-19 through events such as plant shutdowns, the pandemic announcement, lockdown dates, and the first case of Covid-19 outbreaks in meat processing plants. Our dataset includes S&P 500, Google Trends, financial beta, and data collected for 14 U.S. Publicly traded meat processing companies.

Findings Results show that nationwide events (e.g., announcement of …

Essays In Spatial And Regional Economics, Mohamed Shabani Kariburyo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays in spatial and regional economics. In the first essay, high rates of chronic diseases and increasing nutritional polarization between different income groups in the United States are shown to be issues that should concern policymakers and public health officials. Spatial differences in access to food are evaluated as the cause of these nutritional inequalities. In this essay, hot and cold spots for food providers are determined throughout the state of West Virginia and then those places are used in a quasi-experimental method (entropy balancing) to study the effects of hot and cold spots on …

Three Essays In Regional Economics, Zachary Keeler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that use applied econometric analysis and other analytical methods from various economic fields, including regional and urban economics, natural resource economics, housing economics, and sports economics. In all three essays, I use housing data to value various amenities and disamenities. Using several variations on the hedonic method, I am able to uncover the values based on the capitalization effect. I consider the effect of natural resource development by examining shale gas development, as well as the effect of urban development projects, including public transportation and sports facilities.

In the first essay of my dissertation, …

Three Essays On “Energy , Environment, And Developmental Economics”, Bolarinwa Ajanaku

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines topics related to renewable energy development and investment planning, energy markets, environment degradation and economic development. The substantial ecological costs of deforestation are well known and considered globally important due to biodiversity loss, land degradation, soil erosion, and contributions to climate change. The first essay focuses upon understanding the tradeoff between development and deforestation in Africa. In the second essay, spatial analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS) are applied to determine potential locations for wind farms development in the state of West Virginia. Lastly, the third essay examines the role of wind power penetration on wholesale electricity …

Three Essays In Applied Econometrics: Agricultural And Energy Economics, Kuan-Ming Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines three empirical issues in energy and agricultural economics using econometrics models whose titles are: 1) Do Natural Hazards in the Gulf Coast Still Matter for State-Level Natural Gas Prices in the US? Evidence After the Shale Gas Boom; 2) Do Exploitations of Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations Improve Regional Economy in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia? A Synthetic Control Analysis; and 3) How Did Covid-19 Impact US Household Food Spending? An Analysis Six Months In.

The first essay assesses the impact of natural hazards on state-level natural gas prices and evaluates the effects of the shale gas …

Three Essays On Energy And Agricultural Price Analysis, Sara Farhangdoost

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays on energy and agricultural commodity price analysis: 1) Natural Gas Price Forecasting in a Changing World; 2) The Effect of EIA Storage Announcement on Natural Gas Returns: A Comprehensive Analysis; and 3) Forecasting the U.S. Season-Average Farm Price of Corn: Derivation of an Alternative Futures based Forecasting Model.

The first essay evaluates the performances of various individual and composite forecasting models when predicting natural gas prices in the United States. The empirical results show that forecast generated by the Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook provides a more accurate price prediction at longer forecasting …

Coopers Rock State Forest: How To Address Operations Cost And Shortfalls, Sullivan Wilcox Moore

Capstones and Honors Theses

Public lands provide opportunities for recreation and an escape from urban life. Coopers Rock State Forest in West Virginia features scenic views, hiking and biking trails, and other opportunities to get out and enjoy nature. However, despite increases in visitation, Coopers Rock operates under a deficit and faces backlogs of maintenance. Thus, this research attempts to estimate a value of Coopers Rock to visitors using the travel cost method and evaluates several fee-based policies through which Coopers Rock could capitalize on this visitation. Our results suggest that there are a range of values to visitors of visiting Coopers Rock State …

Three Essays On Energy Economics, Alexandre Ribeiro Scarcioffolo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that explore empirical issues concerning energy prices in the United States. In particular, it analyzes the price transmission within and across different energy markets and their interactions with the overall economy. The first essay evaluates the dynamic spatial integration in the U.S. natural gas market and the relative importance of each location in the overall price discovery process. I show that the regional natural gas market is on average well-integrated in both the short- and long-runs, although market integration has declined over the past few years due to pipeline capacity constraints in an increasingly …

Perceived Effects Of Bush Burning On Agriculture And Wildlife Resources In Ghana, Caitlin A. Wilson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Peace Corps was started in the 1960s by President John F. Kennedy. Ghana was one of the first established host countries that received Peace Corps Volunteers. There are five different sectors that volunteers can work in education, health, agriculture, environment, or community and economic development. Peace Corps service begins with ten weeks of pre-service training before volunteers swear in and are placed in communities throughout the country. Training covers topics such as global Peace Corps policy, health and security concerns, local language, and technical skills. I was placed in a small, rural community in the Northern Region of Ghana. My …

The State And War On Poverty: British Welfare Development And Its Legacies For Malawi, 1930s-1983, Gift Wasambo Kayira

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation documents the struggles and dilemmas that the Malawian state endured as it attempted to achieve its developmental goals from the 1930s to 1983. It contributes to histories of development by focusing on the interventions both the colonial and postcolonial states made to improve the living standards of African rural communities, the ideas which shaped state programs, and the behavior of the state which such interventions reveal. Scholars typically argue that state policy in Malawi was necessarily destructive and limited the economic progress of the local communities. The state deliberately pursued land, market, and other agricultural policies that constrained …

State Regulatory Heterogeneity And Clean Water Act Compliance, Quinn R. Beeson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research evaluates the impact of state regulations regarding Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance on wastewater and drinking water violations in the continental United States from 2007 to 2017. Using data collected from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), community characteristics and state regulations are analyzed for their effects on CWA compliance. We use count data analysis techniques and annual county-level data on CWA and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) violations from wastewater and drinking water facilities in the United States. The results show that total violations are higher when an additional state CWA regulation is implemented. One year after a …

Three Essays On “Production And Technical Efficiency”, Douglas Mugabe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines production and or technical efficiencies in agricultural and energy systems. The first essay examines production capabilities of smallholder corn farmers following Zimbabwe’s fast track land reform program of 2000. This paper accounts for semi-parametric production frontier to provide more reliable efficiency estimates than can be obtained using traditional parametric methods. The second essay examines efficiency and state level fuel substitution in the US electricity generation sector. I apply the recent fixed effects stochastic frontier estimation to understand the implications of changes in inter-fuel substitution for technical efficiency. The third essay examines the role of drilled but uncompleted …

Three Essays In Applied Econometrics: Understanding Population Changes, Samuel P. Taylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This body of work consists of three research projects developed around a central theme – what might cause a person to leave the place where they live? As a native and resident of West Virginia, this question is not a purely academic one. My region has long struggled with how to retain our “best and brightest” in the face of challenging socio-economic conditions. Looking at the question differently, understanding what negative influences may exist to cause a person that might otherwise have remained in a place to leave, could provide large influences on policy and strategy for retention of residents …

Observed Mesoscale Hydroclimate Variability Of North America’S Allegheny Mountains At 40.2° N, Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Spatial hydroclimatic variability of Eastern North America’s Allegheny Mountain System (AMS) is commonly oversimplified to elevation differences and the rain-shadow effect. Descriptive and higher order statistical properties of hourly meteorological observations (1948–2017) from seven airports were analyzed to better understand AMS climatic complexity. Airports were located along a longitudinal transect (40.2 °N) and observation infrastructure was positioned to minimize climatic gradients associated with insolation, slope, and aspect. Results indicated average ambient temperature was well correlated with airport elevation (R2 = 0.97). However, elevation was relatively poorly correlated to dew point temperature (R2 = 0.80) and vapor pressure deficit (R2 = …

A Multi-Year Examination Of Gardening Experience And Fruit And Vegetable Intake During College, Daniel Staub, Sarah E. Colloy, Melissa D. Olfert, Kendra Kattleman, Wenjun Zhou, Tanya M. Horacek, Geoffrey W. Greene, Ivana Radosavljevic, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Anne E. Mathews

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Gardening has been positively associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption based on short-term studies among children, but long-term data among adolescents and young adults are lacking. This investigation sought to elucidate the association between gardening experience and FV intake among college students over a two-year period. Students (N = 593) from eight universities were assessed at the end of their freshman (Y1) and sophomore (Y2) years during the springs of 2016 and 2017, respectively. At each time point, participants completed the NCI FV Screener and questions related to gardening experience and FV-related attitudes and behaviors. Students were then categorized …

An Assessment Of Farmer Participation In The United States Department Of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Conservation Technical Assistance Program In West Virginia, Matt D. Oliver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Food and fiber production on America’s farmlands have a major influence on the environment, therefore, soil and water conservation practices are critical. NRCS has provided no-fee technical assistance for nearly 100 years through the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program. The CTA program is essential because it provides technical knowledge directly to farmers for planning and implementing conservation practices that are proven to benefit environmental health and on-farm production. CTA program funds support NRCS staff and training and are thereby the local service delivery vehicle for all NRCS programs. However, in recent years, funding for CTA has remained relatively constant while …

Three Essays On Utilizing Spatial Econometrics In Natural Resource Economics Related To Water, Health, And Energy, Elham Erfanian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Spatial interaction and the locational structure between observations have recently gained more attention in the field of econometrics for both cross-sectional and panel data analyses. Compared to a non-spatial economic model, a spatial model relaxes the assumption of independency in observations. This research will apply spatial econometrics modeling in three different fields in applied economics: 1) water charge and minimum monthly access charge in West Virginia municipalities, 2) Naloxone access law and opioid overdose deaths among the U.S. states, and 3) ��2.5 concentrations and asthma hospitalizations in Pennsylvania counties. Based on the nature of water resource imposing spillovers in water …

Three Essays On Water Economics, Fahad Alzahrani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that explore the impacts of changes in public water quality, reliability, and raw water source. The first essay explores the relationship between episodes of contaminated drinking water and health care expenditures in the United States. Using panel data from 48 contiguous states from 2000 to 2011 and spatial econometrics modeling methods, the results indicate that there is positive and statistically significant impact on per capita health care expenditures from the percentage of a state’s population exposed to contamination episodes. The second essay examines the problem of water supply reliability due to aging infrastructure of …

The Environmental, Social, And Economic Benefits Of Blue Green Infrastructure In An Urbanized Area, Joseph L. Oguns

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

At present, it is evident that there is a shift from rural to an urban settlement which results in high demand for residential buildings and other urban infrastructure. Blue – Green Infrastructure (BGI) is a system of using blue (water) and green (nature) to address urban and environmental challenges. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental, social, and economic benefits of blue-green infrastructure in an urbanized area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The study involves the utilization of Geographic Information System (GIS) to determine water quality level resulting from nonpoint source pollution through acquiring elevation data; watershed; and …