Economic and environmental analysis of buffer zones as an instrument to reduce ammonia loads to nature areas

In this paper, we present a Danish case study of the effectiveness and costs of protecting nitrogen poor nature areas vulnerable to ammonia eutrophication by appointing buffer zones around them. Buffer zones are found to be an important step towards sustainable co-existence of intensive livestock production and nature conservation when local sources are important contributors to eutrophication. Depending on the deposition patterns, buffer zones may be cost-effective compared to re-establishment of eutrophicated locations, but a need for further model analysis is also identified.     

Estimating the costs and benefits of soil conservation in Europe

Economics is about problems of choice. In erosion control, both public authorities and private land users are faced with such problems. What is the impact of erosion, both on-site and off-site, and to what extent can this impact be quantified? If we conceptualize this impact in terms of sustainability, how can we compare one type of effect against another? The former question can be answered only by natural scientists, the latter by economists and other social scientists. Weighing different aspects of sustainability requires value judgments, and economists are sometimes accused of having a jaundiced view of reality, wrongly supposing that decisions are based on rationality and denying the importance of emotion.However, let us assume that there is some mileage to be gained out of attempting to estimate the cost of erosion in an economic sense—which consists of converting the various effects into a common denominator: euros. If we can predict the impact of erosion control measures on erosion rates, we can know the benefit of these measures. The cost also needs to be calculated, not in terms of money but in terms of resources expended (which could have been used for other purposes) and in terms of possible negative impacts of erosion control (for instance, increased use of herbicides in reduced-tillage systems).There are important other considerations which economists may study. Firstly, there is the comparison of present versus future costs and benefits: how much can we sacrifice today for higher sustainability tomorrow?Secondly, there is the issue of private versus public costs and benefits: how do the goals of private land users differ from (those of?) the public good, how can this help us to predict land users’ behaviour, and what incentives would be appropriate to make them behave in such a way as to maximize the public good? Thirdly, how do we deal with uncertainty and risk?These problems loomed large in a study to support an extended impact assessment for the EU Soil Thematic Strategy, in 2005. Whereas much research has been done on erosion and its impact, much of this is on a small scale. The extent of the problem on a national, let alone a continental or a global scale, is still poorly known. The paper discusses how these problems were faced, which is not the same as saying they were resolved.     

Impact of farmland characteristics on grain costs and benefits in the North China Plain

Land characteristics in general and socio-economic characteristics in particular are assumed to play important roles in the determination of grain costs and benefits. This study explores the effects of farmland characteristics on grain costs and benefits using a multilevel linear model. The data refer to 1282 grain plots of 566 grain producers in the provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Anhui in the North China Plain. The results show that the coefficients of the variables used to measure plot size and tenure insecurity have different values and signs for households with different grain planted areas. It can be concluded that the effects of plot size and ratio of rented land are closely related to farmers’ total grain planted area, and only farmers with grain areas below 1.33 ha can achieve economies of scale. The effects of tenure insecurity of rented land on grain costs and benefits were negative, but the values became smaller and insignificant when farmers’ total grain area was sufficiently large. Regarding farmland bio-physical characteristics, farmers obtain more profit from plots with water conservancy facilities and have to invest more in poor land, with no output increments.     

Does Animal Feeding Operation Pollution Hurt Public Health? A National Longitudinal Study of Health Externalities Identified by Geographic Shifts in Livestock Production

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently gathering data to regulate livestock facilities under the Clean Air Act, legislation that purports to protect public health. To set rational policy, estimates of health externalities associated with livestock farming are necessary. This study uses geographic shifts in the industry to measure the impact of pollution on infant health. The article finds that a doubling of production leads to a 7.4% increase in infant mortality. This finding is robust with respect to the inclusion of multiple fixed and time-varying controls. The mortality increases are driven by elevated levels of respiratory diseases, providing suggestive evidence of an air pollution mechanism.     

Modelling a mixed system of air pollution fee and tradable permits for controlling nitrogen oxide: a case study of Taiwan*

A mixed-integer non-linear programming model that minimises the total regulatory costs of controlling nitrogen oxide is used to investigate how a newly proposed permit trading scheme in Taiwan, which incorporates the features of banking and a non-one-to-one trading ratio, may affect firms’ emission reduction strategies and permit trading decisions. Compared to the previous regulation where only an air pollution fee is used, the new regulation that requires a reduction in emissions by 10 per cent from the emission level in the year 2000 for a 5 year period will increase the costs by 77 per cent, which is equivalent to US$9.87 million. The design of banking and the increasing returns to scale characteristic of pollution control among firms might lead to an uneven reduction in emissions in each year. Setting a lower reservation rate for banking would, however, help maintain a more stable environmental quality without a significant loss to the government in terms of air pollution fee revenue.     

The impact of entry costs on export market participation in agriculture

Theoretical models of market entry imply that sunk costs are an important factor in the decision to export. Following Helpman, Melitz, and Rubinstein (2008) , we develop a simple model of foreign market participation and use a Bayesian method to estimate the resulting dynamic discrete‐choice model with lagged dependent variable. Employing a balanced panel data that follows 81 trading partners for 30 years from 1971 to 2000, we estimate our model and compute the marginal effect of sunk costs on the likelihood of export market participation. We find that such costs are economically and statistically important for trade in all of the six major agricultural commodities (Cereals, Dairy, Fish, Meat, Vegetables and Fruits, and Sugar), for agricultural producers in both developed and developing countries. We also find evidence suggesting that, in general, market access for both developed and developing exporters had improved in the years following the Uruguay round of trade negotiations (1995–2000).     

The economic costs and benefits of a participatory project to conserve maize landraces on farms in Oaxaca,Mexico⋆

Conventional methods were used to assess the benefits and costs of an unconventional project whose purpose was to test whether participatory crop improvement can encourage Mexican farmers to continue growing maize landraces by enhancing their current use value. Findings suggest that farmers as a group earned a high benefit‐cost ratio from participating, though from the perspective of the private investor the returns were low. The project also generated social benefits, but these would be difficult (and costly) to measure. There was a gender bias in both participation and benefits distributions, though there is some evidence of a welfare transfer to maize deficit households. Application of other valuation approaches will be necessary in order to assess both the private and social benefits of similar projects.     

油气田开发的环境成本计量方法选择及其应用

油气资源不仅在国民经济发展中占有举足轻重的地位,而且油气资源开发还是环境污染的过程,因此,有必要核算油气田开发的环境成本。油气田开发活动中环境成本的确认、计量及相关计算方法,与一般产品成本核算存在一定的差异,因此,环境成本计量方法的适当选择,可以更好地揭示因环境问题引起的财务影响,并如实反映油气田开发的环境绩效。     

Marginal abatement costs of greenhouse gas emissions: broadacre farming in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia

Broadacre agriculture is a major emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). To improve efficiency of climate change policies, we need to know the marginal abatement costs of agricultural GHG. This article combines calculations of on‐farm GHG emissions with an input‐based distance function approach to estimate the marginal abatement costs for a broadacre farming system in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The results show that, in the study region, the average marginal abatement cost for the 1998–2005 periods was $29.3 per tonne CO₂‐e. Farms with higher crop output shares were found to have higher marginal abatement costs. Overall, our results indicate that broadacre agriculture is among the lowest cost sources of GHG mitigation.     

Projected impacts of increased uptake of source control mitigation measures on agricultural diffuse pollution emissions to water and air

A multi-pollutant modelling framework for England and Wales is described. This includes emissions of nitrate, phosphorus and sediment to water and ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide to air, and has been used to characterise baseline (no uptake of on-farm measures) and business-as-usual (BAU) annual pollutant losses, comparing these with the loss under a range of new policies aimed at increasing the uptake of relevant source control measures to 95% across England and Wales. Model outputs, including uncertainty ranges, evaluated using national water and air quality data layers have been summarised at both farm (Robust Farm Type) and water management catchment (WMC) scale. Nationally, across all farm types, the median annual reductions in pollutant losses under the new scenario, relative to BAU in 2010, were predicted to range between 9 and 16% for nitrate, 13–37% for phosphorus, 12–21% for sediment, 2–57% for methane and 10–17% for nitrous oxide. For ammonia, the range was −2–28%, indicating the potential for pollution swapping and an increase in ammonia emissions under scenarios designed to reduce nitrogen flux to waters. Increased uptake of pollution source control measures would result in a wide range of annual total (capital and operational) costs (per farm) for the major farm types, with median estimates ranging from £635 yr⁻¹ (Less Favourable Areas (LFA) with grazing livestock) to £15,492 yr⁻¹ (Cereals) in Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) areas, compared with a range of £23 yr⁻¹ to £13,484 yr⁻¹ for the same respective farm types in non-NVZ areas. The estimated median annual load reductions for all WMCs relative to BAU, were predicted to be 16% for nitrate, 20% for phosphorus, 16% for sediment, 16% for ammonia, 15% for methane and 18% for nitrous oxide. These predictions suggest that almost perfect (95% uptake) implementation of source control measures will not deliver substantial improvements in pollutant emissions.     

尼日利亚不同地区反刍动物市场定价行为研究

本文对尼日利亚牛羊市场的空间价格一体化程度进行了检验，试图运用双变量自回归时间序列模型验证寡头垄断市场上牛羊价格的非竞争性定价行为。论文分别对牛羊市场的合谋、歧视性、价格领袖和竞争性定价行为进行了经验性检验。结论表明，在牛羊价格形成中，博尔诺（Borno）和索科托（Sokoto）州的牛羊价格领先于克里斯河（CrossRiver）、依莫（Imo）、卡诺（Kano）、拉各斯（Lagos）、尼日尔（Niger）和奥约（Oyo）州这些地方市场的价格。有关证据也支持共谋定价一般与市场的集中有关的判断。     

Socioeconomic burden of trypanosomiasis: Evidence from crop and livestock production in Ethiopia

This paper estimates the impact of trypanosomiasis on crop-livestock production, economic loss and poverty in Ethiopia. We use unique panel data to estimate how the disease affects livestock deaths, production costs and crop production. We then use these estimates to evaluate the disease's total economic loss and its implications on poverty in the study districts and the country. Estimates of the fixed effect regression models indicate that trypanosomiasis increases the value of livestock deaths by 33% and production costs by 63%. Crop production decreases by 14% when trypanosomiasis and oxen death coexist. We estimate that the direct economic loss is about US$58,300 per annum in the study districts. The estimated countrywide economic loss is about US$94 million per annum. Had the government prevented this economic loss and invested it in social protection programmes, it could have lifted about 9000 people in the study districts and about 200,000 people in the country above the national poverty line per annum. These findings indicate that trypanosomiasis remains a major production constraint. Controlling the disease appears to be pro-poor, calling for more policy attention.     

民国时期苏、浙、皖三省畜禽饲养数探讨

江苏、浙江、安徽是我国近代农村经济较发达地区，但其畜牧业究竟如何?所反映农村经济状况如何?问津者极少。笔者通过查阅大量资料，不仅对该三省民国时期畜禽饲养数统计资料进行汇集、整理和分析，对不合理的数据进行校正；而且还对这些畜禽饲养数统计资料进行初步分析，为我们进一步研究民国时期苏、浙、皖三省畜牧业及其农村经济发展奠定基础。     

Nutrient Management and Farmers' Concept of Soil Fertility and Fertilisers: A Case Study in Southern Vietnam

Nutrient management in Vietnam was exposed to major changes with the introduction of the reform policy (‘doi moi’), which entailed the introduction of new crops and new fertilisers and increased consumption of mineral fertilisers, leading to higher yields but also possibly to higher losses of nutrients to the environment. However, sustainable nutrient management options can be developed through merging scientific and local concepts. Participatory methods were used to gather information about the farmers' concept of soil fertility, the fertilisers available and their features, and the information available. The farmers' concept of soil fertility was more directly connected to the ability of the whole system to promote good yields than the scientific concept of soil fertility as the soil's ability to deliver sufficient nutrients and water to the plant. The farmers' concept of fertilisers included a wide range of amendments that were added to promote good conditions for plant growth, rather than to provide nutrients for the crop. The study revealed an information system whereby some innovative farmers were the keys to other farmers' access to external information on nutrient management. The results show that any attempt made by outsiders to improve nutrient use efficiency must be applicable to the farmers' concepts.