Agricultural Policy Reform and Off‐farm Labour Decisions

Off‐farm labour decisions of a sample of Kansas farmers are evaluated. The central question of our analysis pertains to whether 1996 US farm policy reforms may have altered the decisions to work off the farm. The effects of policy decoupling on off‐farm labour are complex: different aspects of policy changes can have opposing effects on off‐farm work decisions. Essentially, this makes this issue an empirical question. Results show that the introduction of fixed, decoupled payments in 1996 might have reduced the likelihood of off‐farm labour participation. However, the new policy environment may have increased farm households’ revealed aversion to risk, motivating a higher participation in non‐farm labour markets. The effects of 1996 policy reforms on farm income variability could have been attenuated by changes in US crop insurance programmes and by an increase in emergency assistance payments towards the end of the 1990s. The reduction in price supports may have increased the motivation for working off the farm. The net effect of the overall reforms on off‐farm work participation is not likely to have been large.     

信息传递、家庭养老保险与农户农业规模经营参与决策分析——以农户农地股份合作社入股决策为例

如何激发农户参与农业规模经营的积极性,是实现其与现代化农业有机衔接的关键之一。本文以农地股份合作社为例,基于728户非社员农户样本,着重分析了信息传递、家庭养老保险对非社员农户入股决策的调节作用及其相互作用。研究发现,家庭养老保险参与、政策信息、社员评价信息传递对非社员农户入股决策均表现出显著的正向调节作用。其中,社员评价信息传递边际效应最高,对非社员农户的调节作用随传递信息内容等级的提高而提高。此外,信息传递对非农社员入股决策影响的边际调节效应递减。家庭养老保险对非农户社员入股决策的正向调节作用需要一定的信息传递为基础。因此,本文提出如下建议:可针对特定农业规模经营方式,在发展的不同阶段采取不同的信息传递方式;健全运行机制和监督机制,提高参与农户评价;完善农村社会保险体系,提高农户风险补偿预期。     

Modelling the Risks Associated with the Increased Importation of Fresh Produce from Emerging Supply Sources Outside the EU to the UK

The risk of non‐indigenous plant pests entering the UK via international trade in fresh produce is increasing. The objective of this article is to identify existing and emerging supply sources for UK fresh produce importers and examine the extent to which they could provide invasion pathways. We tested the hypothesis that increased imports of fresh produce from new sources outside the European Union could increase the risks of non‐indigenous insect pests. We use a bio‐economic model approach in which the number of species arrivals is a function of the volume of imports, whereas the volume of imports itself is a function of gross domestic product, relative import prices and seasonality. The study has identified clear trends, which show import volumes of fresh produce and species detections increasing from new supply sources. If this trend continues in the future, then the UK inspection agency should expect to confront species from new suppliers in much greater numbers, given that import volumes of fresh produce are income elastic.     

How did a network of marine protected areas impact adjacent fisheries? Evidence from Australia

Marine‐protected areas (MPAs) are an effective means of improving habitat quality and biodiversity in the world’s oceans. While the advantages of MPAs as a mechanism for conservation and biodiversity are well established, the potential improvements to fishery performance resulting from a network of MPAs are still being established. Countries around the world have committed to establishing networks of MPAs within their waters by 2020, in response to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. This, coupled with the increasing global demand for seafood and heavy reliance on fishery resources as a source of economic development for many coastal communities, means that an understanding of how these networks can be expected to impact fishery performance is extremely important. We use a difference‐in‐difference modelling approach to isolate the change in the fishery performance associated with the south‐east marine reserve network in Australia. We find no evidence that the economic performance of adjacent fisheries was negatively impacted by the network. This lack of impact is likely due to a network design explicitly intended to avoid effort displacement in key fisheries, along with fishery management changes intended to remove excess fishing capacity.     

粮食安全视角下粮食主产区耕地休耕规模及动态仿真研究

研究目的:以保障粮食安全为目标,构建粮食主产区休耕最大规模测算和仿真模型,仿真预测不同人口政策效应情景下最大休耕规模及休耕规模弹性边界,以期为保障中国休耕政策推行的科学性和合理性提供参考.研究方法:系统动力学模型.研究结果:(1)2007—2016年模拟期内,湖北省在兼顾区域粮食供给和保障国家粮食安全的同时,能够保有一定比例持续增长的弹性耕地资源,支撑国家"藏粮于地"战略的实施;(2)2017—2036年仿真期内,湖北省休耕最大规模和休耕规模弹性边界在人口增长保持不变和不断下降两种情景下总体保持扩张趋势,在人口增幅略微上升和大幅上升两种情景下呈现先缩小再扩大的态势;(3)在当前符合全面二孩政策目标人群规模庞大且妇女二孩生育意愿较强的情况下,全面二孩政策在中长期的粮食需求增加效应极有可能导致湖北省可休耕耕地规模减少和休耕规模弹性边界缩小.研究结论:应积极扩大休耕规模和范围,丰富休耕试点区域,正式建立目标多元化、模式多样化和实施常态化的耕地休耕制度,以粮食安全为前提实现对休耕的宏观调控.     

Usage‐based insurance and its acceptance: An empirical approach

This study aims to explore the motor insurance market's attitude towards usage‐based insurance (UBI), and thus its readiness for a launch in the near future. Data on client perception was collected using a structured questionnaire. On the basis of this, an initial selection of factors, other than income, that could influence the declared attitude of drivers was demonstrated showing that it is primarily dependent on certain demographic characteristics like their age, sex, or place of residence. A strong relationship was also demonstrated with respect to the intensity of the vehicle's use, to the amount of the insurance premium they have paid, and to the self‐assessment of the respondents' driving skills. Clients are likely to accept the concept of UBI once implemented, but that they are not ready yet to give up the traditionally used methods of premium calculation. Their attachment to discounts granted can be very strong in particular to the no‐claims bonus.     

Consumer Valuation of Alternative Meat Origin Labels

Results from a split‐sample survey of the US population reveal consumers prefer meat products carrying origin information to unlabelled alternatives. Consumers are largely unaware of origin labelling laws and are indifferent to an important aspect of the implementation of current mandatory country of origin information rules in the US. In particular, consumers value meat products labelled ‘Product of North America’ approximately the same as ‘Product of United States’. Despite the similarity of these two labels, they have vastly different implications in terms of trade and segregation costs. Our results suggest that a transition from one label to the other is equally satisfying for the consumer while being less costly for processors and more acceptable to trade partners.     

Adoption of weather‐index insurance: learning from willingness to pay among a panel of households in rural Ethiopia

In this article we examine which farmers would be early entrants into weather‐index insurance markets in Ethiopia, were such markets to develop on a large scale. We do this by examining the determinants of willingness to pay for weather insurance among 1,400 Ethiopian households that have been tracked for 15 years as part of the Ethiopian Rural household Survey. This provides both historical and current information with which to assess the determinants of demand. We find that educated, wealthier individuals are more likely to purchase insurance. Risk aversion is associated with low insurance take‐up suggesting that models of technology adoption can inform the purchase and spread of weather index insurance. We also assess how willingness to pay varied as two key characteristics of the contract were varied and found that basis risk reduces demand for insurance particularly when the price of the contract is high, and that provision of insurance through groups is preferred by female headed households and individuals with lower levels of education.     

Determinants of herbicide use in rice production in the Philippines

This study identifies farm‐specific and market factors affecting the adoption of herbicides and the level of herbicide use by rice farmers in the Philippines. This requires the application of a modified version of Heckman's two‐step method to estimate a random‐effects double‐hurdle model for unbalanced panel data. The age of the farmer, household size, and irrigation use are significant determinants of the decision of farmers to adopt herbicides as an alternative to manual weeding, while economic variables such as the price of herbicides, total income, and access to credit determine the level of herbicide use. Determinants of both adoption and level are land ownership, farm area, and the method of crop establishment. These results are potentially relevant when designing policies to reduce excessive herbicide use or to encourage the adoption of alternative weed control methods such as integrated weed management.     

Geographical indication regulation and intra‐trade in the European Union

Protection of indications of geographical origin (GIs) can reduce information asymmetry between producers and consumers, and potentially enhance trade. However, GIs can also possibly divert trade. We rely on panel data about agri‐food trade among the 27 countries of the European Union to investigate these issues using variations of estimators proposed by Head and Mayer ( 2000 ) and Santos Silva and Tenreyro ( 2006 ). Our findings suggest that the protection of GIs creates trade when the importing and exporting countries have GI‐protected products. There is also empirical evidence regarding a trade‐diverting effect when the importing country does not have GIs and a border enlargement effect arising from European GI‐protection.