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We examine persistence and cross-market liquidity spillovers in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange soybean complex futures markets. A multidimensional liquidity measure is derived from the limit-order-book, and a Vector Heterogeneous Autoregressive model estimates high-resoluted liquidity from 30 s to one trading day. We find traders' order placement influenced by the liquidity of related markets. Liquidity persistence and positive liquidity spillovers mainly occur within 30 s, whereas spillovers for longer horizons are mostly negative. Findings are important for hedgers that hedge the crush and traders who wish to capitalize on the short-term deviation of price relationships.

On 29 September 2020, JPMorgan was ordered to pay a settlement of $920.2 million for spoofing the metals and Treasury futures markets from 2008 to 2016. We examine these cases using a visualization method developed in particle physics (CERN) and the messages that the exchange receives about market activity rather than time-based snapshots. This approach allows to examine multiple indicators related to market manipulation and complement existing research methods, thereby enhancing the identification and understanding of, as well as the motivation for, market manipulation. In the JPMorgan cases, we offer an alternative motivation for spoofing than moving the price.

Reducing the usage of fossil fuels is a central issue in ongoing policy debates. This in particular holds for Dutch horticulture, given its energy-intensive production. We analyse differences in energy usage and price responsiveness of horticultural firms by estimating energy demand functions using a Bayesian random coefficient model. Beyond, the effects of a proposed energy tax are assessed. Allowing for firm-specific energy price coefficients gives a better model fit compared to conventional models with fixed slope parameters. This confirms that firms respond differently to energy prices, which is taken into account in simulating the effects of more restrictive energy policies. The results show that larger-sized firms use less gas per square meter yet also point at a considerable spread in additional energy expenses between firms.

The way economic studies conceptualize and measure resilience is very heterogeneous. This does not only challenge scientific progress, but also raises the question of whether they measure one identical concept with different methods or whether they measure different understandings of resilience. This paper provides a review of concepts, methodological approaches and empirical evidence on resilience from a food security perspective, focusing on socio-economic research. We perform a systematic literature search to identify recent publications that analyze resilience from the perspective of household food security. We examine the historical evolution of concepts and methods used for measuring resilience and synthesize the evidence. We find that conceptual and analytical models have evolved over time, with important technical adjustments. Studies initially focused on measuring resilience as an end in itself, but more recently resilience is understood as a means to an ultimate end, hence resilience capacity is measured instead. Also, resilience was initially measured as an indicator of food security. Currently it is measured distinctly from food security. Multivariate techniques are found to be frequently used to quantify resilience. The empirical evidence suggests that households with higher resilience capacity tend to have less child malnutrition and better food security. We find that causal pathways through which resilience capacity affects food security in a microeconomic framework are barely explicitly considered in empirical analyses. Therefore, we suggest a model which explicitly addresses these pathways.

Dutch horticultural firms have expanded rapidly in recent decades, both in terms of their production area as well as in number of employees. In particular in the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, a number of very large horticultural firms emerged with often more than 100 employees, operating on tens of hectares of greenhouses. A standard explanation for firm growth is that firms want to benefit from economies of scale, where the increased scale of production would ensure lower average (fixed) production costs. This article however shows that cost reduction due to economies of scale is not the main driver behind the growth in horticultural firm size. In fact, our empirical evaluation shows that larger horticultural firms face higher average production costs compared to smaller firms. However, these higher production costs are compensated by the on average higher and more stable output prices obtained by larger firms. This positive effect of firm size on firm revenues therefore provides a different rationale for the recent growth in average size of Dutch horticultural firms. As a result, our findings demonstrate that revenue-related aspects are becoming more important in understanding firm growth of primary producers in the horticultural sector.

Recent empirical literature pays increasing attention to farmer-retail power relations in agricultural supply chains, yet seems to neglect potential differences between prices that primary producers receive for their products. Via both a Markov chain analysis and a hybrid panel data model, we empirically test whether primary producers receive prices in a consistent way and what explains any price differences. Using a unique data set containing individual farm-specific output prices in various horticultural markets, we show substantial price dispersion across farms and reveal relations between farm characteristics and observed output prices. The Markov analysis shows that the same farms are constantly found in the higher and lower quartiles of the price distribution, implying prices are not distributed randomly. The results of the hybrid panel data model show that characteristics as farm size and production orientation are strongly associated with differences in the obtained output prices as well as the price/cost ratio between farms. [EconLit Citations: D22, D40, L11, Q13].

Recent research has indicated an increase in the likelihood and impact of tree failure. The potential for trees to fail relates to various biomechanical and physical factors. Strikingly, there seems to be an absence of tree risk assessment methods supported by observations, despite an increasing availability of variables and parameters measured by scientists, arborists and practitioners. Current urban tree risk assessments vary due to differences in experience, training, and personal opinions of assessors. This stresses the need for a more objective method to assess the hazardousness of urban trees. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of factors that influence tree failure including stem failure, root failure and branch failure. A systematic literature review according to the PRISMA guidelines has been performed in databases, supported by backward referencing: 161 articles were reviewed revealing 142 different factors which influenced tree failure. A meta-analysis of effect sizes and p-values was executed on those factors which were associated directly with any type of tree failure. Bayes Factor was calculated to assess the likelihood that the selected factors appear in case of tree failure. Publication bias was analysed visually by funnel plots and results by regression tests. The results provide evidence that the factors Height and Stem weight positively relate to stem failure, followed by Age, DBH, DBH squared times H, and Cubed DBH (DBH3) and Tree weight. Stem weight and Tree weight were found to relate positively to root failure. For branch failure no relating factors were found. We recommend that arborists collect further data on these factors. From this review it can further be concluded that there is no commonly shared understanding, model or function available that considers all factors which can explain the different types of tree failure. This complicates risk estimations that include the failure potential of urban trees.

We introduce a methodology to visualize the limit order book (LOB) using a particle physics lens. Open-source data-analysis tool ROOT, developed by CERN, is used to reconstruct and visualize futures markets. Message-based data is used, rather than snapshots, as it offers numerous visualization advantages. The visualization method can include multiple variables and markets simultaneously and is not necessarily time dependent. Stakeholders can use it to visualize high-velocity data to gain a better understanding of markets or effectively monitor markets. In addition, the method is easily adjustable to user specifications to examine various LOB research topics, thereby complementing existing methods., Comment: 51 pages, 9 figures

Agriculture-based livelihoods in developing countries are often challenged by a multitude of unforeseeable shocks, but economic research mostly focuses on single shocks. This paper investigates how climate, health, pest and price shocks individually and in combination relate to farm households’ coping strategy choices. First, we use binary probit models to examine how interactions from coinciding shocks relate to coping strategy choices. Next, we assess how coping strategies relate to household food security in a recursive framework. We find that when shocks are considered individually, the nature of shocks and their duration affect the likelihood of using savings. However, when climate shocks interact with health, pest or price shocks, there are incremental effects that increase the probability of depleting household assets to cope. Our findings suggest that governmental and non-governmental organizations should support rural farm households in managing the effects of multiple shocks through the provision and enhancement of markets for labour, insurance and outputs as well as formal safety nets. This support will help them to protect their assets and foster long-term wealth creation for escaping chronic poverty and food insecurity.

Cooperatives are established to improve farmers' production conditions, to increase their bargaining power and to enable them to benefit from modern value chains. In China, farmers are members of a cooperative for multiple reasons. Little is known on whether and how cooperative membership affects farmers’ choice of marketing channels. This paper examines determinants of farmers’ choice of marketing channels, especially how cooperative membership impacts upon this choice. Our analysis is based on survey data collected in 2015 among 625 apple growing farm households in the provinces Shaanxi and Shandong. We employ endogenous switching probit models to deal with potential endogeneity of membership in estimating the determinants of marketing channel choices. We find that cooperative membership has a positive impact on selling to wholesalers and a negative impact on selling to small dealers, but no significant impact on selling to the cooperative itself. As products sold through cooperatives generally comply with relatively stringent food quality and safety standards, these results imply that policies promoting cooperative members to sell their products through cooperatives are likely to have a significant impact on food quality and food safety in China.

This study investigates the impact of improved maize varieties on household food security in eastern Zambia using household survey data from a sample of over 800 rural households. Since treatment effect estimates are often prone to misspecification in either the treatment or outcome equation, we use the doubly robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment method, complemented with propensity score matching on six different food security measures to obtain reliable impact estimates. Generally, we find a positive impact of improved maize adoption on food security across the two econometric approaches. Maize being the most important food staple in Zambia has a great bearing on the food security status of farm households. It is therefore imperative that a conducive environment is created that promotes the adoption of maize yield improving technologies.

Rainfall shortages constrain small-holders' agricultural production in developing countries and with ongoing climate change these shortages may increase in volume and frequency. Rainwater harvesting irrigation is an interesting technology that decreases this risk. Therefore, one would expect an increasing use of this technology in drought-prone areas, particularly for large and wealthy farms. This study investigated the relation between farm size and share of irrigated land among smallholders from two regions in Ethiopia. It also analyzed which factors explain the share of irrigated land using panel data collected in 2005 and 2010. A random effects tobit model was estimated for the share of irrigated land as a function of variables affecting returns, market prices, source of finance, and expectation formation. The findings show that the share of irrigated land declines with farm size. Moreover, the share of irrigated land depends on distance to market, ease of selling output, age, aridity, distance from natural water sources, credit access, and regional differences. These results question the relevance of water harvesting for farm enlargement. However, they also show that by safeguarding the availability of credit and improving local infrastructure farmers may extend the share of land irrigated by harvested water.

The abolition of milk quota fuels environmental concerns in the Netherlands. A microeconomic model is developed to analyse the technical relations between milk, roughage and manure production. Production functions for milk, feed and roughage are estimated based on milk quota and manure constraints. Together with an equation for manure production these are used to calculate the costs and benefits of dairy livestock expansion. It turns out that at the margin and at prevailing input and output prices and manure processing costs, it will be attractive for dairy farms to expand production, unless regulatory constraints prevent them from doing so.

The abolition of dairy quotas in Europe in 2015 has been accompanied by uncertainty on expansion of the European dairy sector. Whereas the total amount of quotas was limited and the value of quotas was falling before 2015, a significant part of active Dutch dairy farmers followed an expansion strategy in the recent past. Therefore, it was expected that the overall milk production in the Netherlands will substantially increase after abolishment of the quota. The objective of this study is to analyse which factors determine milk production expansion by Dutch dairy farmers. A conceptual model is developed that shows how policies, market conditions, and farmers’ values and goals affect their expansion decisions. This conceptual model shows that not only economic, but also social and environmental variables are important factors in expansion decisions of Dutch dairy farmers. Zooming in on the dynamic decision making process itself, we combine three investment theories to explain investment decisions. This framework is the basis for a dynamic random effects probit model that is used to estimate the effects of various economic, environmental and farm structural factors on farmers’ expansion behaviour. Data is obtained from the Dutch Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) covering the period 2001 through 2010, with 1390 observations on 354 dairy farms included in the sample. The results show that production intensity matters when analysing production expansion behaviour of Dutch dairy farms. Compared to extensive farms, intensive farms have a higher probability for milk production expansion. The availability of land however is an important precondition. Production diversification, which is usually found at extensive farms, decreases the probability for milk production expansion. Although the findings do not directly show an increase in milk production during the sample period (farmers still respected their quota limits), the results indicate that Dutch dairy farms can potentially increase milk production in the future. In 2010 farms underutilized their stable space, as the occupancy of stable space was 71%. After milk quota abolishment farms can therefore increase livestock herd and milk production with limited investments.

Using household survey data from a sample of 810 households, this paper analyses the determinants of children’s nutritional status and evaluates the impacts of improved maize varieties on child malnutrition in eastern Zambia. The paper uses an endogenous switching regression technique, combined with propensity score matching, to assess the determinants of child malnutrition and impacts of improved maize varieties on nutritional status. The study finds that child nutrition worsens with the age of the child and improves with education of household head and female household members, number of adult females in the household, and access to better sanitation. The study also finds a robust and significant impact of improved maize varieties on child malnutrition. The empirical results indicate that adoption of improved maize varieties reduces the probability of stunting by an average of about 26 %.

This study analyses disadoption of water harvesting technologies in Ethiopia where the average disadoption rate in the sample areas is as high as 42%. Given that Ethiopia is a drought-prone country with 95% of its crop production being rain-fed, such a high disadoption rate for irrigation technologies is surprising and urges investigation. Using panel data on 332 Ethiopian farm households collected in 2005 and 2010 we estimate a logit model to identify factors underlying disadoption. We find farm-household, economic, technology-specific, and natural condition variables that relate to disadoption. Mainly, shortage of plastic-sheets, altitude, and distance to market increase disadoption whereas education, experience with water harvesting (learning-by-doing), farm profit, availability of family labour, access to credit, ease of selling output, growing perennial crops, and distance from natural water sources decrease the probability of disadoption. There is no evidence that malaria has a significant effect on disadoption. Based on these findings, improved supply of plastic sheets and motor pumps, and advise to farmers on appropriate crops, credit and improved market accesses could contribute to decreasing disadoption of water harvesting technologies.

In southwestern Ethiopia honey is a non-timber forest product that provides income for many smallholders. Some of these beekeepers supply their honey under contract to a company that markets their organic honey internationally allowing them to access premium markets. Since both production and marketing depend crucially on the forest, both smallholders and the company have an interest in preserving the forest. An important question is whether smallholders also benefit economically from supplying under contract. The objective of this study is to examine the contribution of participation in contract supply of organic honey to beekeepers' income levels in the Sheka zone in southwestern Ethiopia. Results indicate that contract supply improved quality of honey delivered, the prices beekeepers received, and total honey income per household. The findings illustrate the potential of contract supply of forest product for sustainable management of forests.

We investigate the relationship between the transmission of price volatility and market power in the German fresh pork supply chain. We use a theoretical model underpinning this relationship followed by an empirical application that uses monthly farm, slaughterhouse and retail pork price data for the period 2000–2011. We examine both the relationships of market power with price level transmission and price volatility transmission in the chain. We use a vector error correction model and least squares regressions to analyse price transmission and price volatility transmissions, respectively. Results show that retail market power limited both types of transmissions. Competition inducing policy measures coupled with measures that support price risk management initiatives of chain actors are suggested.

A major concern about biofuels is that increasing biofuel feedstock demand reduces availability of crops for food and feed leading to higher food prices. This paper investigates relations between biofuel policies and prices of rapeseed, the major feedstock used for biodiesel production in Europe, and the impact of rapeseed prices on crop acreages in Germany and France. Biodiesel is an important biofuel in Europe, and Germany and France are the largest biodiesel producers in Europe. First, the various biofuel policies in Germany and France are discussed, followed by an analysis of their effects on rapeseed prices. Although theory indicates that such effects exist, we could not find empirical evidence for them. Second, using regional land use panel data from Germany and France we investigate empirically whether crop shares have been affected by rapeseed prices in the period 2000-2015 and whether these price effects changed because of biofuel policy changes. Results show that wheat shares in Germany and France did respond to rapeseed prices, but barley shares did not. Moreover, mandatory blending introduced in Germany in 2007 and production quotas introduced in France in 2005 led to a stronger effect of rapeseed prices on wheat shares, but again did not affect barley shares.

We study the economic impact of world trade on the throughput in the Port of Rotterdam and the regional economy of Rotterdam-Rijnmond. We use a two-step approach. In the first step we analyze the relationship between world trade and the port’s throughput. In the second step we deal with the impact of the port’s throughput on regional economic indicators like income and number of jobs. It appears that the global business cycle determines the port activities and that, in turn, the port activities are essential for the regional economic development, in this way linking the regional economy to the global business cycle. Diversification of the regional economy is recommended to make the regional economy more resilient.

This article studies the economic value and roles of rural festivals. The authors investigate the festivals of ‘Kuruma-ichi’ and ‘Suishamatsuri’ in the Yamane area of Kuji city, Iwate prefecture, Japan. They estimate a travel demand model to infer the value of these festivals for visitors and apply the chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) method to analyse the reasons for visiting. The results indicate that the consumer surplus of these festivals is ¥3,627 (US$45.3) for a tourist per trip. From the CHAID analysis it follows that the annual frequency of visits depends on the opportunity for exchange among tourists and the local residents. It appears that the festivals are important occasions for the gathering of former residents in this depopulated and aged mountainous area.

The objective of this paper is to examine the value of experiments for assessing the impact of the proposed Common Agricultural Policy of 2013 on farm income and farming strategies. We focus specifically on the impact of an alternative direct payment system based on a flat rate and green payments. We show the added value of an economic simulation experiment to existing economic micro- and sector modeling analysis when analyzing farmer behavior. It is shown that the suitability of and rewards for the provision of green services play a significant role in their uptake by farmers and the support for them. These results are useful in implementing a revised direct payments system in the Netherlands for the future.

Risk assessments on trees in urban areas and roadside plantings have become common practice and a large body of information exists on qualitative aspects on the risks of tree failure. Quantitative analysis of financial damage due to tree failure is generally lacking. The objective of this paper is to determine the amount of tree failure related property damage and to derive possible trends in the number of cases and monetary claims and compensations. This paper presents the analysis of 1610 observations on urban tree failure in the Netherlands. The data originate from two different sources, i.e. jurisprudence (4% of the data) and 21 municipalities (96%). The data covers property damage in urban areas between the early sixties and 2010. Within municipalities, paid compensations due to tree failure are found to range from €0 to € 49,296 with an average of €2,244 per paid compensation. Results demonstrate a significant annual increase in tree failure as well as in paid compensations.

This paper uses a multinomial endogenous treatment effects model and data from a sample of over 800 households and 3,000 plots to assess the determinants and impacts of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on maize yields and household incomes in rural Zambia. Results show that adoption decisions are driven by household and plot level characteristics and that the adoption of a combination of SAPs raises both maize yields and incomes of smallholder farmers. Adoption of improved maize alone has greater impacts on maize yields, but given the high cost of inorganic fertiliser that limits the profitability of adoption of improved maize, greater household incomes are associated rather with a package involving SAPs such as maize–legume rotation and residue retention.

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of volatility across major agricultural commodities in the United States. Volatility interactions across markets may lower the effectiveness of diversification strategies to mitigate price risks and should be taken into account when analyzing the pricing behavior of different agricultural commodities. We follow a multivariate GARCH approach to evaluate the time evolution of conditional correlations and volatility transmission across corn, wheat, and soybeans price returns on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The period of analysis is from 1998 to 2012. The estimation results indicate a lack of lead-lag relationships between corn, wheat, and soybeans price returns at the mean level. We find, however, important volatility spillovers across commodities, particularly at the weekly and monthly level. Wheat and corn seem to play a major role in terms of volatility transmission. Despite the supposed higher financial market integration of agricultural commodities, we do not observe that agricultural markets have become more interdependent in recent years.

This paper evaluates the long-term impact of microfinance credit from the intensity of participation in borrowing. We use a four-round panel data set on 351 farm households that had access to microfinance in northern Ethiopia. Over the years 1997-2006, with three-year intervals, households are observed on key poverty indicators: improvements in annual consumption and housing improvements. The relatively long duration in the panel enables to measure household poverty changes between consecutive periods and see the long-run effects of exposure to microfinance from the intensity of participation borrowing. The fixed-effects model is innovatively modeled to account for potential selection biases due to both time-invariant and time-varying unobserved individual household heterogeneities. Results show that microfinance borrowing indeed causally increased consumption and housing improvements. A more flexible specification that allows for the number of times the household has been in borrowing also shows that repeated borrowing is effectively increasing consumption: the longer the borrowing relationship the larger the effect partly due to lasting credit effects. Impact estimates that do not account for such dynamic effects may therefore undermine the effect of MFI borrowing.

The structure of the dairy processing industry in the European Union has changed enormously in recent decades. In many countries, the industry is characterized by a few large companies with a big market share accompanied by many small processors that often produce for niche markets. This article investigates which factors relate to growth of dairy processing firms. Using a unique 10-year panel data set and recently developed dynamic panel data estimators, the growth process of dairy processors is investigated for six rather diverse European countries. The data structure and the estimation method allow for dealing with endogeneity issues in an appropriate way. Firm size growth measured in total assets is found to be affected by firm size, firm age, and financial variables. Growth in number of employees is only affected by firm age and lagged labor productivity. Implications for these results are given in the final section of the article

Theoretical models on group lending assume the formation of groups of homogenous risk types. Recent theoretical and empirical findings challenge this view arguing that when markets for insurance are missing, risk homogeneity may not hold any more and risk heterogeneity can be the optimal outcome. Using data from an MFI in Tigray (Ethiopia), this article examines the homogeneity hypothesis and reflects on implications for repayment. No evidence is found that supports risk homogeneity, even accounting for matching frictions. However, we also do not find an explicit link between the presence of risk heterogeneity and side-payments due to missing insurance as suggested in the literature. Instead, other trust-based social networks seem to underlie heterogeneity. Such social networks are often synchronized with credit groups and influence the probability of repayment under heterogeneity. The implication is that successful repayment rates in group lending need not arise only under risk homogeneity but can also arise under risk heterogeneity. Heterogeneity may also serve to bridge missing insurance markets in poor rural environments. MFIs therefore need to consider such local conditions when designing their lending schemes

Buyers of farmland are usually interested in parcels for sale that are close to their own farms. With a limited number of parcels for sale, this may lead to market power in local farmland markets. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether market power affects farmland prices. Hedonic price models are adapted to allow for local market power of either sellers or buyers. A distinction is made between rural and urban farmland markets. The results provide evidence of market power effects in rural farmland markets. However, for farmland in urban areas, market prices are dominated by speculation effects.

This article focuses on adoption and modification decisions on improved maize storage technologies in southern Benin. Modification implies changing a technology to adapt to farmers' circumstances. A sample selection framework is used to account for selectivity bias as some farmers were not aware of the new technologies. Using this framework, the study investigates the effect of alternative information sources on adoption and modification decisions. Farmers are either informed by extension agents or by other farmers. The empirical results show that there are differences in adoption and modification decisions between these two groups.

This article provides an empirical analysis of farm-gate tomato price negotiations under asymmetric information. Regression models are estimated to analyze when and by how much sellers stick to their initial ask prices and what explains the variation in the initial ask–offer price spread. Detailed information on 66 farm-gate tomato transactions and daily tomato wholesale price data from the central vegetable market in Addis Ababa are used for the analysis. Estimation results show that farmers are less committed to their initial ask price when the buyer speaks out the transaction price first, when their quality perceptions of the tomatoes being transacted differ from those of the buyers, and when their tomato farm is at a large distance from the main road. Sellers stick more to their initial ask price when they know that the central market price is high. The initial ask–offer price spread decreases when the buyer speaks out the initial negotiation price first, but increases in the difference in quality perception between buyer and seller, and in the quantity of tomatoes being transacted.

Tradable permits are generally considered as an efficient instrument to regulate pollution by individual producers. However, uncertainty about changes in or possible discontinuation of the program could make individual farmers reluctant to invest in tradable permits. This article uses the option approach to derive a theoretical model that shows the impact of policy uncertainty on investment in tradable quota. The empirical assessment provides weak evidence for the existence of option values due to policy uncertainty for phosphate quota in swine production in the Netherlands. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

This paper develops a dynamic model of investment under rational expectations, assuming farm-specific production technologies and adjustment cost structures. The model distinguishes regimes of negative, zero and positive investments and maintains that it is optimal for a farmer not to invest for a range of shadow prices, depending on thresholds for positive and negative investments. The model is applied to a rotating sample of Dutch pig farms over the period 1980-1996. Farm-specific parameters of the adjustment cost function and production technology are obtained using Generalised Maximum Entropy estimation. Cluster analysis using the farm-specific adjustment cost parameters indicates that five groups of farms with distinct adjustment cost structures can be identified. A tobit regression analysis is used to explain the impact of different socio-economic factors on the size of the threshold between positive and negative investments.

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of volatility between the corn, wheat, and soybean markets in the United States. Volatility interactions across markets, if they exist, may lower the effectiveness of diversification strategies to mitigate price risks and should be taken into account when analyzing the pricing behavior of different agricultural commodities. We follow a Multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (MGARCH) approach to evaluate the level of interdependence and volatility transmission across these major crops on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The period of analysis is 1998 through 2012. The estimation results indicate lack of cross-market dependence between corn, wheat, and soybean price returns at the mean level. We find, however, important volatility spillovers across commodities, particularly on a weekly and monthly basis. Wheat, and to a lesser extent corn, seems to play a major role in terms of volatility transmission. Additionally, we do not observe that agricultural markets have become more interdependent in recent years, despite the apparent higher financial market integration of agricultural commodities.

Rainfall shortage is a major production risk for smallholder farmers. Due to rainfall shortage, smallholders limit the use of modern inputs such as fertilizer and improved seeds. This study investigates if water harvesting technologies (WHTs) induce fertilizer use and whether there is joint adoption of fertilizer and water harvesting technologies. Using panel data collected from Ethiopian farmers in two regions in 2005 and 2010, a random effects probit model and a bivariate probit model are estimated to investigate these two issues. Both models include variables that are hypothesized to affect fertilizer and WHT use. The findings indicate that: (1) water harvesting increases the probability of using fertilizer; (2) past WHT use positively affects the probability of current fertilizer use but past fertilizer use does not affect current WHT use; (3) total landholding, farm capital, and education significantly increase the probability of fertilizer use whereas the price of fertilizer and distance to market decrease the probability of fertilizer use; (4) there are significant regional and yearly differences in fertilizer use; and (5) growing perennial crops, and distance from natural water sources increase the probability of using water harvesting in 2010 whereas distance from markets, age and altitude decreases it. These results imply that measures encouraging water harvesting can also lift low fertilizer use among Ethiopian smallholders.

Contains fulltext : 90389.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Many efforts are made to promote soil conservation in developing countries. This paper compares the effect of two programs promoting soil conservation in Peru on the adoption decision of households. One program applies a top-down approach with soil conservation as its core activity. The other program applies a participatory approach, offering a portfolio of activities in order to improve rural livelihoods. The decisions on participation and adoption are estimated with a trivariate probit model. The results show that each program attracts different types of households and achieves different outcomes in terms of soil conservation.

This paper compares the production technology and production risk of organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands. Just–Pope production functions that explicitly account for output variability are estimated using panel data of Dutch organic and conventional farms. Prior investigation of the data indicates that within variation of output is significantly higher for organic farms, indicating that organic farms face more output variation than conventional farms. The estimation results indicate that in both types of farms, unobserved farm-specific factors like management skills and soil quality are important in explaining output variability and production risk. The results further indicate that land has the highest elasticity of production for both farm types. Labour and other variable inputs have significant production elasticities in the case of conventional farms and other variable inputs in the case of organic farms. Manure and fertilisers are risk-increasing inputs on organic farms and risk-reducing inputs on conventional farms. Other variable inputs and labour are risk increasing on both farm types; capital and land are risk-reducing inputs. Keywords: Organic and conventional production; panel data; production risk.

In de Nederlandse economie neemt de landbouw een belangrijke plaats in. Uit economisch oogpunt is de landbouw, samen met de toeleverende en verwerkende bedrijven, een van de belangrijkste sectoren. Ook is in het verstedelijkte Nederland de landbouw de grootste grondgebruiker. Geen andere sector is zo nauw verbonden met milieu en natuur. Op de nationale en internationale beleidsagenda's prijkt de landbouw nog altijd prominent. Van boterberg naar biobased, de Nederlandse landbouw in perspectief geeft een actueel overzicht van ontwikkelingen in de Nederlandse landbouw en het beleid dat zich hier op richt. Verschillende experts belichten in vijftien hoofdstukken, o.a. de economische positie van de landbouw, internationale aspecten van beleid en agrarische markten, en de relatie tussen landbouw, milieu en natuur. Recente ontwikkelingen rond klassieke onderwerpen als pacht en melkquota worden besproken, maar ook is er aandacht voor meer recente thema's als biobased economy en agrarisch natuurbeheer. Van boterberg naar biobased biedt daarmee een gedegen en up-to-date overzicht van de Nederlandse landbouw voor diegenen die in professionele zin met deze sector te maken hebben

This paper develops a generalised adjustment cost framework that explicitly accounts for zero investments on Dutch pig farms. A farm-specific flexible adjustment cost function is used to account for differences in adjustment costs between farms. Using the Generalised Method of Moments the Euler equations for investment in buildings and machinery are estimated on a panel of specialised Dutch pig farms. It is found that adjustment costs are an important determinant in investment for buildings but not for machinery.

This paper investigates the relation between unobserved farm productivity and other production factors in a system of netput equations for specialised pig breeding farms in the Netherlands. In order to estimate the system, a Hausman-Taylor panel data estimator is developed for a system of equations with unbalanced panel data. Tests on correlation between model variables and farm-effects are performed, yielding insight in the sources of differences in total factor productivity and its components (e.g. managerial ability and scale economies). Results indicate that specialised pig breeding farms that are characterised by high total factor productivity have more buildings and machinery than farms with low total factor productivity.