Search

Infrastructure has always been a fundamental driver of long-term economic growth, but in recent decades information and communication technology (ICT) has supported and accelerated the growth of the global economy in ways beyond the imagining of our ancestors. This study examines the role of ICT infrastructure in facilitating labor markets access and remittance flows for workers from the Kyrgyz Republic. Using a combination of traditional high frequency macroeconomic data and real time internet search information from Google Trends, we take a novel approach to explaining the inflow of remittances to a developing country. In the first attempt to model remittance behavior with GTI data in this context, we use a gravity model. We also attempt to account for both origin and destination labor market conditions, using Kyrgyz language search words to identify both push and pull factors affecting migrant decisions.

Throughout history, animal husbandry has been a central component of agriculture and livestock has been central to agrofood systems. Animals have provided rural societies with a broad spectrum of products and services, including food, energy, fertilizers, traction and transport, pest control, security, etc. Despite the immense benefits enjoyed by humans from this symbiotic relationship, coexistence with domestic animals also poses serious risks. Most important among these are infectious diseases of animal origin that can affect humans (zoonoses). These have been prominent among the many pandemics that have wiped out millions of people and communities since the earliest human settlements. To cite a relatively recent example, the 1918–1920 Spanish Flu Pandemic, caused by a virus with Avian origins, was responsible for tens of millions of deaths worldwide (Murray et al. 2006). Recent research on the human genome suggests that we have acquired resistance to such diseases over a much longer history of recurrent viral threats.

After two generations of economic growth, the next phase of structural transformation for Asia will have several salient features. Our results suggest that no single policy orientation, pathway, or even destination will apply to all economies. The main driver for each economy's structural change will be demand, both domestic and external. These demand sources can have very different sector emphasis, however, and drive domestic resource allocation in different directions. Asian economies with high export shares will be drawn to more intensive primary and industrial resource allocation, while those with larger domestic demand shares will become more service-oriented. Our long-term forecasts for the Asian economies suggest that factor productivity growth continues to be essential to improving livelihoods generally and promoting regional convergence in particular. Of particular importance is potential for reducing regional inequality through more inclusive growth - productivity improvements are more cost-effective in lower-income countries and they have a bigger relative income dividend. Our research also reveals that services are essential contributors to average living standards in high-, medium-, and even low-income Asian economies. For this reason, policies that improve the efficiency of service sector labor allocation, as well as skill and productivity improvements via determined education and training programs, will be essential to sustaining higher living standards and transition to long-term growth sustained by demand from an ever-expanding middle class.

Bangladesh today faces a different future than it did decades ago when relatively abundant natural gas seemed to be the key to prosperity. To support more evidence-based dialogue on energy development, allocation, and pricing reform, this study uses a computable general equilibrium model to evaluate major energy policy issues facing Bangladesh. A relatively small negative growth impact of increased energy prices can be easily counteracted by an economy-wide increase in energy efficiency or subsidized gas for fertilizer production. A gas price increase does not lead to significant inflationary pressures in the country's economy. Diversification of the power sector fuel mix by introducing coal provides good macroeconomic indicators but results in higher carbon emissions. Investing the gas revenue in physical and social infrastructure provides the best macroeconomic indicators. This best policy option, however, further increases carbon emissions. Impacts of these different policies in terms of increased household income are more or less equally distributed among different household groups. Most of the attractive policy options have the drawback of higher carbon emissions, and supplementary policies and suitable technology adoption should play a balancing role.

Investigating Impacts of Fuel Costs on Retail Prices for Local and Non-local Milk Products Faculty Profile: Katrina Jessoe (Clark) The Problem of Over-Shooting Supplies of a Tree Crop Smallholder Livestock Production and the Global Disease Risk

Investigating Impacts of Fuel Costs on Retail Prices for Local and Non-local Milk Products. The Problem of Over-Shooting Supplies of a Tree Crop. Smallholder Livestock Production and the Global Disease Risk

The emergence of biofuel as a renewable energy source offers opportunities for climate change mitigation and greater energy security for many countries. At the same time, biofuel represents the possibility of substitution between energy and food. For developing countries like India, which imports over 75% of its crude oil, fossil fuels pose two risks - global warming pollution and negative economic impacts of oil price hikes. This paper examines India's options for managing energy price risk in three ways: biofuel development, energy efficiency promotion, and food productivity improvements. The overall results suggest that biodiesel shows promise as a transport fuel substitute that can be produced in ways that fully utilize marginal agricultural resources and hence promote rural livelihoods. First-generation bioethanol, by contrast, appears to have a limited ability to offset the impacts of oil price hikes. Combining the biodiesel expansion policy with energy efficiency improvements and food productivity increases proved to be a more effective strategy to enhance both energy and food security, help mitigate climate change, and cushion the economy against oil price shocks.

Agricultural Biotechnology Can Help Mitigate Climate Change Toward Sustainable Use of Nitrogen Fertilizers in China A Look at California’s Organic Agriculture Production

The biofuel industry has received billions of dollars in support from governments around the world, as political leaders respond to new environmental and energy-security imperatives. However, a growing body of research highlights nontrivial costs associated with biofuel production, including environmental destruction and diminished food security, and questions the magnitude of perceived benefits. We discuss the ability of biofuels to accomplish climate change, rural development and energy-security objectives, and consider possible impacts on food production and environmental conservation. We also review methods for judging biofuels, consider how well they contribute to policy objectives, and compare policies that support biofuels.

The Role of Regional Trade Agreements in Trade Liberalization How Do the Recent Farm Price Fluctuations Affect Consumer Prices? ARE Faculty Profile: C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Impact of Quality Characteristics on Demand for Chicken in Viet Nam

Global climate change poses significant risks to the California economy. Recognizing and responding to these threats, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order #S-3-05 (Schwarzenegger 2005) which called for a 30 percent reduction below business-as-usual of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. In September 2006, the California legislature passed and Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the historic Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), which mandates a first-in-the-nation limit on emissions that cause global warming. In June 2006, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a “Draft Scoping Plan” – the policy roadmap to meet the emissions reduction target of 169 Million Metric Tons of Carbon (MMTCO2) equivalent by 2020 to stabilize at 427 MMTCO2 overall. The CARB board will take up final adoption of this plan in December 2008. During the months leading up to this decision, a financial crisis of global proportions is unfolding. The state, nation and world are caught in serial market failures sparked by the collapse of the housing credit market, and there is much speculation about the impact of declining capital gains revenue on the state budget. Against this backdrop, Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation in California analyses the economic impact of CARB’s past and future policies to reduce fossil fuel generated energy demand. California’s achievements in energy efficiency over the last generation are well known, but evidence about their deeper economic implications remains weak. This study examines the economy-wide employment effects of the state’s landmark efficiency policies over the last thirty-five years, and forecasts the economic effects of significantly more aggressive policies proposed to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

What Hope for Climate Multilateralism? Faculty Profile: David Roland-Holst The Use of Environmental Life-Cycle Analysis for Evaluating Biofuels Enhancing Producer Returns:United Potato Growers of America

Economic emergence of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India has fundamentally altered the economic landscape of Asia and its relation to the global economy. Using the new dynamic global model, we present forecasts for Asian expansion over 2025. These baseline growth forecasts elucidate shifting patterns of regional specialization and their consequences for growth and structural change in the Asian economies. The central role of trade is examined through analysis of a variety of hypothetical global and regional trade agreements. Our results indicate that trade within the Asian region is far from reaching its potential, and policies that facilitate integration and more efficient regional trade can accelerate growth, especially for lower-income Asia. A deeper and more inclusive Asian free trade area can achieve for its members large benefits. As an emerging growth bridge between the PRC and India, ASEAN economies have the most to gain from Asian economic integration.

The New Farm Bill: Implications for California Agriculture. The Intersections of Energy and Agriculture: Implications of Rising Demand for Biofuels and the Search for the Next Generation. Farm Labor Shortages: How Real, What Response?

Trade policies can promote aggregate efficiency, but the ensuing structural adjustments generally create both winners and losers. From an incomes perspective, trade liberalization can raise GDP per capita, but rates of emergence from poverty depend upon individual household characteristics of economic participation and asset holding. To fully realize the growth potential of trade, while limiting the risk of rising inequality, policies need to better account for microeconomic heterogeneity. One approach to this is the geographic targeting, which shifts resources to poor areas. This study combines an integrated microsimulation-CGE model with the small area estimation to evaluate the spatial incidence of Vietnam's accession to the WTO. Provincial-level poverty reduction after full liberalization was heterogeneous, ranging from 2.2 per cent to 14.3 per cent. Full liberalization will bene?t the poor on a national basis, but the northwestern area of Vietnam is likely to lag behind. Furthermore, poverty can be shown to increase under comparable scenarios.

How Vulnerable is California Agriculture to Higher Energy Prices? Determinants of California Farmland Values and Potential Impacts of Climate Change. After Methyl Bromide: The Economics of Strawberry Production with Alternative Fumigants.

As Asia's economic growth process matures, regional integration offers important opportunities to sustain and extend the achievements of the more dynamic economies. Benefits from this process will include geographic diversification, often toward superior growth rates, as well as structural differentiation and more rapid evolution from established north–south patterns of trade and specialization. Propagation of growth linkages across this diverse region will also facilitate more inclusive growth and economic convergence. Infrastructure commitments can be an essential guarantor of the entire process, and this paper examines their potential to contribute to more sustained and broadly based Asian growth.

Co-editors’ Introduction: Special Issue: China’s Agricultural Boom, with Implications for California. Genetically Modified Rice in China: Effects on Farmers–in China and California. China’s Strawberry Industry: An Emerging Competitor for California? New Horizons for Rural Reform in China: Resources, Property Rights and Consumerism.

With the emergence of People's Republic of China (PRC) and India, the economic landscape of Asia and its relation to the global economy have been changed. Using the new dynamic global model, we present forecasts for Asian expansion over 2025. These baseline growth forecasts elucidate shifting patterns of regional specialization and their consequences for growth and structural change in the Asian economies. The central role of trade is examined through analysis of a variety of hypothetical global and regional trade agreements. Our results indicate that trade within the Asian region is far from reaching its potential, and policies that facilitate integration and more efficient regional trade can accelerate growth, especially for lower-income Asia. A deeper and more inclusive Asian free trade area can achieve for its members large benefits. As a emerging growth bridge between the PRC and India, ASEAN economies have the most to gain from Asian economic integration.

Throughout human history, technology has proven its ability to contribute to higher material living standards, yet the work of poverty alleviation is far from complete. We believe that in the modern age, biotechnology holds remarkable potential for reducing poverty and its attendant adversities. However, the extent to which this promise is fulfilled will depend as much on institutions as it does on innovation. In these early stages of development, biotechnology is concentrated in the most developed, Tier I countries. In this paper, we envision future biotechnology diffusion around the world, with large emergent Tier II economies playing a catalytic role in propagating affordable and appropriate innovation products. Through the mechanism of a globally R&D supply chain, such products can ultimately reach the world’s poorest and improve their dietary, health, and income status. For this to happen, three general conditions must be satisfied. First, property rights must be clearly delineated and recognized by more universal standards. Second, multilateral public and private initiative must be taken to lower barriers to diffusion. These include government intervention, imperfect contractual standards, and incomplete information. A broad spectrum of government policies— from outright protectionism to corruption—impedes the propagation of innovation between countries of all three Tiers. Incompatibility and incompleteness of legal systems are also major obstacles to international sharing of innovation. Finally, informational commons supported by institutions like the IPR clearinghouse are needed to facilitate innovation partnership. We present a general vision of R&D networks extending from the capital and technology rich Tier I, through the dynamic Tier II emerging economies, to those, finally, in Tier III who most need enhanced agricultural and human productivity. We believe that achieving this goal is not only desirable, but imperative to global sustainable development. If the poor are to enjoy the full benefits of agricultural biotechnology, its productivity gains must be conferred on both rural and urban low income households. The former will benefit directly if biotechnology is appropriate (both in terms of technology and incentives) for penetration into smallholder production systems. By contrast, the latter benefit must be indirect, with lower food prices contributing favourably to real wages of the urban poor. Only dramatic increases in productivity can thus reconcile producer and consumer interests domestically, but biotechnology represents exactly such a promise.

Trade Horizons for California. Not So Cool? Economic Implications of Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling. ARE Faculty Profile: Alix Peterson Zwane Do Farms Provide More than Food? Public Perspectives in California.