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| Gerber, Nicolas. |
| Biodiversity measurement is necessary to evaluate conservation alternatives and understand how to maximize biodiversity returns on conservation budgets. In the economics literature, most studies focus on species level diversity. Existing measures based on species' pairwise genetic differences do not perform optimally. This paper develops two new biodiversity measures within the same genetic framework. An axiomatic diagnosis for this class of measures is proposed and four biodiversity measures are then compared. Though the axiomatic comparison points towards a single "best" measure, it also indicates that the choice of measure should be dependent on the conservation problem at hand. |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Biodiversity; Measurement; Axiomatic approach; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy. |
| Ano: 2009 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51305 |
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| Gerber, Nicolas; Van Eckert, Manfred; Breuer, Thomas. |
| The various calculations of the impacts of biofuel production on the mid-term projections of food and agricultural commodity prices are difficult to reconcile. This is largely due to the intricate set of assumptions, the differences in the baseline scenario and in the projection horizon they are built upon. For similar reasons, studies evaluating the impact of biofuel production on food and commodity prices to date do not provide a clear consensus. Rather than discussing the merits of the different assumptions and methodologies, this paper focuses on the global trends that can be extracted from the different sources. Agreed upon by all sources is the fact that between 2005 and 2007 many agricultural commodity prices increased sharply, especially nominal... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety. |
| Ano: 2008 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/48193 |
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| Lodhi, Abdul Salam; Tsegai, Daniel W.; Gerber, Nicolas. |
| Using data from Pakistan, this study analyzed the effect of various individual, household, and community level characteristics on the probability that children engage in different activities. According to the existing trend of their prevalence, we considered five child’s activities, namely: secular schooling; religious education; child labor; a combination of child labor and secular schooling; and inactivity (including leisure). Data was collected through field surveys conducted in over 40 villages in four Pakistani provinces: Balochistan, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Punjab, and Sind. A total of 963 households were interviewed on the activities of 2,496 children. Multinomial Probit model was used for the analyses. Results indicated that parental perception had... |
| Tipo: Working Paper |
Palavras-chave: Child productivity; Child’s activities; Parental perception; Gender; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Labor and Human Capital; Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession. |
| Ano: 2011 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/119110 |
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| Gerber, Nicolas. |
| Four broad types of studies on rural development and bioenergy technologies are identified. Within these four types, this discussion paper presents a number of existing studies which are most relevant in the context of developing a research focus on the role, feasibility and issues associated with bioenergy, and in particular biofuels, as engine for rural development in developing countries. The results and recommendations of the referenced studies, reflecting the global trends of the current literature, highlight the importance of bioenergy technologies in the development process of poor rural communities. The surge of biofuels and in particular of their feedstocks on the international agricultural markets has recently commended a lot of attention.... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: International Development; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy. |
| Ano: 2008 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37862 |
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| Nkonya, Ephraim M.; Gerber, Nicolas; Baumgartner, Philipp; von Braun, Joachim; De Pinto, Alessandro; Graw, Valerie; Kato, Edward; Kloos, Julia; Walter, Teresa. |
| Land degradation has not been comprehensively addressed at the global level or in developing countries. A suitable economic framework that could guide investments and institutional action is lacking. This study aims to overcome this deficiency and to provide a framework for a global assessment based on a consideration of the costs of action versus inaction regarding desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD). Most of the studies on the costs of land degradation (mainly limited to soil erosion) give cost estimates of less than 1 percent up to about 10 percent of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) for various countries worldwide. But the indirect costs of DLDD on the economy (national income), as well as their socioeconomic consequences... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Agricultural Finance; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy. |
| Ano: 2011 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/109326 |
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