Prices in the hog industry in Taiwan are determined according to an auction system. There are significant differences in hog prices before, during and after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). The paper models growth rates and volatility in daily hog prices in Taiwan from 23 March 1999 to 30 June 2007, which enables an analysis of the effects of joining the WTO. The empirical results ha...

Decisive factor of scale of land is the capacity of management and control of agricultural operation subject, which is strengthened with improvement of skills. Only if scale of land is enlarged accordingly, then economic profit can be gained. Under such external circumstances as reduction of agricultural comparative advantage and fluctuation of relative factor prices brought about by economic d...

We developed a single-equation decomposed negative binomial regression model (NBRM) of the U.S. farm sector to simultaneously evaluate structural changes in the U.S. agricultural sector and the strength of several economic forces that influenced the changes in farm structure during the 1960–96 period. We found all these forces reinforced economic incentives to increase the size and decrease the...

We also learnt much about the conditions under which agriculture-led growth is most likely to succeed. There are five key conditions. First, agricultural growth needs to be technologically driven so that output prices can fall while farm incomes increase. It is not enough to simply use more farm inputs like fertilizer and irrigation water and investments in productivity-enhancing agricultural r...

Bioenergy currently draws worldwide attention, both positive and negative. Proponents argue that the large-scale development of bioenergy, more precisely of biofuels, could be part of the solution for diversifying energy sources, enhancing security of energy supply, and meeting environmental and rural development objectives. Opponents argue that it could drive up prices of agricultural products...

FOR MOST COUNTRIES, HIGH PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR HAS BEEN A KEY DRIVER of structural transformation promoting long-term economic growth. Historically, low agricultural productivity growth has hindered economic growth and employment creation in the Philippines, where agriculture—which accounts for one-third of employment—remains a key sector. Climate change has the potenti...

We use a net present value framework to examine the impact of non-permanence on the economics of land-based biological carbon sequestration. Contingent on assumptions about discount rates, management, and carbon prices trajectories, and payment contract design, we find the adjusted value of carbon sequestration relative to permanently available emission offsets to be between 38 and 55 percent f...

This study proposes the use of marginal abatement cost curves to calculate environmental damages of agricultural systems in China's Loess Plateau. Total system costs and revenues, management characteristics and pollution attributes are imputed into a directional output distance function, which is then used to determine shadow prices and abatement cost curves for soil and nitrogen loss. Marginal...

In this paper we estimate the effect of agricultural electricity subsidies in India on groundwater extraction and agricultural output. Our empirical approach exploits changes in state electricity prices over time controlling for aggregate annual shocks and fixed district unobservables. Electricity subsidies meaningfully increase groundwater extraction, where the implied extensive margin price e...