SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge; Hendricks, Chad; Mishra, Ashok K..

We model the interaction of off-farm work and adoption of agricultural technologies and the impact of adopting these technologies on farm household income from on farm and off-farm sources after controlling for such interaction, and estimate the model for the case of adoption of herbicide-tolerant (HT) soybeans using a nationwide survey of soybean farms for 2000. We find that adoption of HT soybeans is positively and significantly related to off-farm household income for U.S. soybean farmers, after controlling for other factors. In addition, while on-farm household income is not significantly related to adoption, total household income increases significantly with adoption.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Agricultural household model; Biotechnology; Herbicide tolerant soybeans; Off-farm income; Technology adoption; O33; Q12.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43487

Scarcity and Growth in the New Millennium: Summary

Simpson, R. David; Toman, Michael; Ayres, Robert U..

In their 1963 classic Scarcity and Growth Howard Barnett and Chandler Morse argued that resource scarcity did not threaten economic growth. A second investigation in the late 1970s, Scarcity and Growth Reconsidered, reached largely the same conclusion. The 25 years since that work was published have witnessed many developments. The message of Scarcity and Growth that depletion of market resources was not a problem has given way to a concern that "new scarcities" of environmental quality, global climate, and biological diversity are emerging. Resources for the Future recently assembled a distinguished group of international scholars to again address scarcity and growth. This paper describes their charge and summarizes their findings. Technological progress...

How Inefficient Really Are the Small-Scale Rice Farmers in Eastern India?: Examining the Effects of Microtopography on the Estimation of Technical Efficiency

Palavras-chave: History of economic thought; Technological change; Renewable resources and economy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; B12; B20; N50; O13; O14; O33; O47; Q20; Q32.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10835

Fuwa, Nobuhiko; Edmonds, Christopher M.; Banik, Pabitra.

We focus on the impact of failing to control for differences in land types defined along toposequence on estimates of farm technical efficiency for small-scale rice farms in eastern India. In contrast with the existing literature, we find that those farms may be considerably more technically efficient than they appear from more aggregated analysis without such control. Farms planted with modern rice varieties are technically efficient. Furthermore, farms planted with traditional rice varieties operate close to the production frontier on less productive lands (upland and mid-upland), but significant technical inefficiency exists on more productive lands (medium land and lowland).

Diffusion of Bt Cotton in India: Impact of Seed Prices and Technological Development

Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Stochastic frontier production function; Productivity; Rice; India; Farm Management; O13; O33; Q12; Q16.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19435

Arora, Anchal; Bansal, Sangeeta.

Recent studies in the literature examining impact of government seed price intervention on adoption of Bt cotton get different results depending on the specifics of the situation analyzed. According to one study, reduction in seed prices enables farmers to buy seeds at lower prices and this can result in surge of area sown under Bt cotton. The other view holds that seed price interventions have little impact on the adoption rates rather these interventions may adversely affect firms’ incentives to innovate. Which of the two views characterize adoption of Bt cotton in India? Using three variations of dynamic logistic model, this paper analyzes the impact of certain economic factors like seed prices, technological development, and cotton prices on the...

Technical Efficiency Effects of Technological Change: Another Perspective on GM Crops

Palavras-chave: Diffusion of technology; Bt cotton; Seed price interventions; Technological development.; Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries; Land Economics/Use; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; O33; Q16.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/104154

Weaver, Robert D.; Curtiss, Jarmila; Brümmer, Bernhard.

An important approach to reducing persistent technical inefficiency is through technical change. This paper considers the case of genetically modified crop production. A stochastic frontier approach is used to examine how a drastic change from non-GM to GM technology effects the position of the production frontier as well as the extent and nature of technical inefficiency. A one-step method is applied to consider firm-level effects on technical inefficiency. Using soybean production from the U.S. we find that GM technology improves productivity and reduces technical inefficiency though these effects vary across farm characteristics.

Monsanto's Adventures in Zulu Land: Output and Labour Effects of GM Maize and Minimum Tillage

Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technical change; Genetically-modified; Soybean; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; D24; O33.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24528

Gouse, Marnus; Piesse, Jenifer; Thirtle, Colin G..

The only commercial genetically modified (GM) subsistence food crop is white maize in South Africa, which was released in 2001/2. This paper reports on the performance of insect resistant (Bt) white maize grown by smallholders in Hlabisa, KwaZulu Natal, where the other development is minimum tillage. The results show that, contrary to many inflated claims, in the dry 2003/4 season, there was no significant difference between the yield per kg of seed for Bt and conventional maize, due to very low stalk borer infestation levels. Farmers who planted Bt maize in 2003/2004 were thus worse off as they paid more for seed and obtained no benefit. This is measured using efficiency scores from a stochastic frontier analysis. These results conflict with the yield per...

Whether crop diversification is a desired strategy for agricultural growth in Bangladesh

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; O33; Q16.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25309

Rahman, Sanzidur.

This study aimed at examining the merit of crop diversification as a strategy for agricultural growth in Bangladesh. Specifically, the existence of economies of diversification, scale economies and diversification efficiencies at the farm level were examined using a stochastic input-distance function approach. Results reveal strong evidence of diversification economies amongst most crop enterprises except the combination of modern rice and modern wheat enterprises. Ray economies of scale exist in Bangladeshi cropping system. Also, significant efficiency gains were made from diversification among cropping enterprises. The key policy implication is that crop diversification should be a desired strategy for agricultural growth in Bangladesh. Development of...

Measuring the Contribution of Genetic Characteristics as an Indicator of Innovation: The Case of Corn in the USA, 1990-2009

Palavras-chave: Diversification economies; Diversification efficiencies; Stochastic input distance function; Crop diversification; Bangladesh; O33; Q18; C21.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/36867

Nolan, Elizabeth; Santos, Paulo.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regimes for plant breeding are generally justified on the basis that they encourage innovation. Introduction of IPR regimes for plant varieties in the United States has led to increased concentration, but it is less clear whether IPRs have promoted useful innovation, as measured by productivity of available corn hybrids. There are difficulties in finding a satisfactory measure of innovation in plant breeding, and in this paper we propose a procedure. Results from the annual corn hybrid trials conducted by 11 US universities over the 20 years from 1990 to 2009, at 365 separate locations in the 11 states, have been collated. This set of unbalanced panel data for grain corn hybrid trials has been used in a fixed effects...

Smallholders' Cost Efficiency in Mozambique: Implications for Improved Maize Seed Adoption

Palavras-chave: Hybrid seed corn; GM traits; Varietal change; Fixed effects; Random effects; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; O33; O34.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61333

Zavale, Helder; Mabaya, Edward T.; Christy, Ralph D..

Maize is an important staple in Mozambique. It is also a dominant crop produced by smallholder farmers. However, the actual maize yields, currently estimated at 1.4 tons/ha, fall short of potential yields of 5-6.5 tons/ha. With population growth rate increasingly exceeding agricultural (and maize) productivity growth rate, the government of Mozambique faces a serious problem of food insecurity and poverty alleviation. This study examines cost inefficiency among smallholder maize farmers in Mozambique, and the impact of improved maize seed adoption on cost efficiency. A Translog functional form is used to estimate the frontier cost function. A cost-inefficiency function is used to examine the factors that determine cost inefficiency among farmers....

Market Impacts of Adopting Herbicide-Resistant Rice in the Southern United States

Palavras-chave: Stochastic frontier; Technology adoption; Selection bias; Mozambique; Crop Production/Industries; Q12; Q16; D13; O33.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25648

Fuller, Frank H.; Annou, Mamane Malam; Wailes, Eric J..

Herbicide-resistant (HR) rice varieties offer U.S. rice producers a powerful tool for control of red rice infestations. However, improved weed control can shorten crop rotations and boost yields, resulting in expanded rice production and lower domestic market prices. Declining market returns diminish the benefits of HR rice adoption and substantially reduce net returns for nonadopters. More competitive prices increase U.S. rice exports, causing a slight decline in world rice prices. The dependence of the rice marketing loan program on world prices prevents loan deficiency payments from adequately offsetting producers’ market revenue losses. U.S. consumers gain from lower rice prices.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Biotechnology; Crop rotation; Herbicide resistant; Red rice; Rice; Simulation models; Technology adaptation; Q11; Q16; Q18; O33; C53.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37859

Do Exports Raise Productivity? Plant-level Evidence from the Colombian Agri-food Industries

Kandilov, Ivan T.; Liu, Xiangping.

Using detailed plant-level manufacturing Census data from the Colombian Agri-food industries, we show that exports raise plant-level productivity by about 15 to 20 percent. However, the estimates reveal that efficiency in plants that become persistent exporters, i.e. plants that service foreign markets at least 30 percent of the time during our sample years 1981-1991, increases about 30 percent upon their entry into foreign markets, while productivity in plants that become only occasional exporters does not change at all. Hence, the positive impact of exports on productivity for is driven by the large positive impact on persistent exporters. To identify the effect of exports on plant-level productivity we employ the Levinsohn-Petrin (2003) measure of...

A Dynamic Decision Model of Technology Adoption under Uncertainty: Case of Herbicide-Resistant Rice

Palavras-chave: Exports; Productivity; Difference-in-differences; Propensity score matching; International Development; International Relations/Trade; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Q17; F12; Q12; O33.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103632

Annou, Mamane Malam; Wailes, Eric J.; Thomsen, Michael R..

Herbicide-resistant (HR) rice technology is a potential tool for control of red rice in commercial rice production. Using an ex ante mathematical programming framework, this research presents an empirical analysis of HR rice technology adoption under uncertainty. The analysis accounts for stochastic germination of red rice and sheath blight to model a profit maximization problem of crop rotation among HR rice, regular rice, and soybeans. The results demonstrate that risk attitudes and technology efficiency determine adoption rates and optimal rotation patterns.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Biotechnology; Herbicide resistance; Mathematical programming; Profit maximization; Rice; Risk; Rotation; Technology; Adoption; Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Q16; Q18; O33; C61.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43724

Dynamics of Structural Transformation: Understanding the Key Factors That Drive Innovative Activities in Selected Asian and African Countries

Badibanga, Thaddee Mutumba; Diao, Xinshen; Roe, Terry L.; Somwaru, Agapi.

This paper develops a metric of structural transformation that can account for the production of new varieties of goods embodying advancements in technological know-how and design. Our measure captures the dynamics of an economy’s transformation and can be viewed as an extension of the static measure developed by Hausmann and Klinger (2006). We apply this measure to four digit level sitc trade data of China, Malaysia and Ghana over the period 1962-2000. The results show the rapid transformation of the Chinese economy is characterized by two important factors: the high proximity of its export basket to the three main industrial clusters – capital goods, consumer durable goods, and intermediate inputs, and the increase in the values of the new goods...

AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION OF THE POTENTIAL FOR HERMETIC PURDUE IMPROVED CROP STORAGE (PICS) BAGS TO IMPROVE INCOMES FOR MAIZE PRODUCERS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Palavras-chave: Structural Transformation; Discovery; Technological Change; International Development; F19; O14; O33; O40.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43890

Jones, Michael; Alexander, Corinne E.; Lowenberg-DeBoer, James.

Pests like the larger grain borer (P. truncatus) and the maize weevil (S. zeamis) cause significant storage losses for African maize producers. The value of storage protection to a market-oriented farmer is a function of price seasonality, value loss prevention, and their opportunity costs of capital. Evidence suggests that hermetic technologies like Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags can be effective against these key maize storage pests, but sustainable technology transfer requires that it be profitable for producers. This analysis references dry weight loss figures from key life science articles and builds on previous value loss research to provide a geographic model for potential storage technology adoption. PICS bag profitability with one and...

Searching for the Profit in Pollution Prevention: Case Studies in the Corporate Evaluation of Environmental Opportunities

Palavras-chave: Agricultural pests; Technology adoption; Maize; Larger grain borer; Hermetic storage; Storage economics; Agribusiness; International Development; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Q16; Q13; O33.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/115554

Boyd, James.

The concept of pollution prevention, or "P2," signifies a new, proactive environmental mindset that targets the causes, rather than the consequences, of polluting activity. While anecdotal evidence suggests that P2 opportunities exist and that many have been pursued, there is also the perception that the pace of P2 is far too slow. To explore that claim--and to shed light on barriers to P2 innovation--this paper presents case studies of industrial P2 projects that were in some way unsuccessful. While based on a very limited sample, the evidence contradicts the view that firms suffer from organizational weaknesses that make them unable to appreciate the financial benefits of P2 investments. Instead, the projects foundered because of significant unresolved...

The place of technology transfer processes in the system of methods for researching the area of Science -Technology-Innovation

Palavras-chave: Pollution prevention; Financial evaluation; Environmental accounting; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; L65; O33.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10614

An Economic Assessment of Space Solar Power as a Source of Electricity for Space-Based Activities

Wisniewska, Joanna.

The growing importance and scope of technology transfer processes undertaken all over the world settles the question of the necessity for their proper identification. The multi-aspect character and complexity of these phenomena create specific problems in conducting analytic work. Although technology transfer is an element of the Science-Technology-Innovation (STI) system, it does not have a proper place in the existing methodology system of this area. The aim of this article is to point out the necessity to create a proper, complex and comprehensive methodology for researching technology transfer processes, which would contribute to better understanding of the processes themselves and at the same time enable their proper development.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Science; Technology; Innovation; Technology transfer; Methodology; Research.; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; O33.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94612

MacAuley, Molly K.; Davis, James F..

We develop a conceptual model of the economic value of space solar power (SSP) as a source of power to in-space activities, such as spacecraft and space stations. We offer several estimates of the value based on interviews and published data, discuss technological innovations that may compete with or be complementary to SSP, and consider alternative institutional arrangements for government and the private sector to provide SSP.

Read the Label! Energy Star Appliance Awareness and Uptake Among U.S. Consumers

Palavras-chave: Innovation; Government policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; O33; O32; L98.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10794

Murray, Anthony G.; Mills, Bradford F..

The Energy Star label program to promote the diffusion of energy efficient home appliances is arguably the most significant government effort to reduce U.S. residential energy consumption. Program effectiveness requires that consumers are aware of the labeling scheme and also change their purchase decisions based on label information. This paper examines the factors associated with consumer awareness of the Energy Star label of recently purchased ‘white’ major appliances and the factors associated with the choice of Energy Star labeled appliances. The paper finds that household characteristics have a much stronger association with consumers awareness of labels than with the choice of Energy Star appliances. Renting the home, Hispanic ethnicity, being poor...

Why Don't Lenders Finance High-Return Technological Change in Developing-Country Agriculture?

Palavras-chave: Energy Star; Household Energy Efficiency; Technology Adoption; Consumer/Household Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O33; Q40; Q48.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103328

Blackman, Allen.

Most of the literature attributes credit constraints in small-farm developing-country agriculture to the variability of returns to investment in this sector. But the literature does not fully explain lenders. reluctance to finance investments in technologies that provide both higher average and less variable returns. To fill this gap, this article develops an information-theoretic credit market model with endogenous technology choice. The model demonstrates that lenders may refuse to finance any investment in a riskless high-return technology--regardless of the interest rate they are offered--when they are imperfectly informed about loan applicants, time preferences and, therefore, about their propensities to default intentionally in order to finance...

Private Research and Public Goods: Implications of Biotechnology for Biodiversity

Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Asymmetric information; Credit; Developing country; Technology adoption; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; O12; O16; O33; Q14; D82.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10886

Raney, Terri; Pingali, Prabhu L..

The pattern of crop genetic diversity has changed over the past two centuries with the modernization of agriculture, accelerating with the advent of the green revolution. Since the green revolution, the locus of agricultural research has shifted from the public to the private sector. The growing importance of the private sector in agricultural R&D is changing the types of crop technologies that are developed and the ways they are delivered to farmers. The spread of transgenic crops will influence crop genetic diversity, but their implications for the availability of plant genetic resources and the resilience of agricultural ecosystems are not entirely clear. Transgenic crops may increase or decrease crop genetic diversity, depending on how they are...