Search

This analysis investigates economic impacts of climate changes on Vietnam agriculture. The Ricardian approach is applied to ten-year panel data using the Hsiao two-step method. Estimates of the Ricardian model suggest heterogeneous impacts of climate change. Rising temperature is especially harmful to the Northern Central and the Southern region. Shortage of rainfall in spring only causes losses to the Central Highlands and Northern region. Rising summer precipitation is extremely harmful. Increases in precipitation help to harness the benefit of rising autumn temperature. The simulation indicates net agricultural surpluses in the long-run, with the Central Highlands being an exception.

New Zealand’s success in raising agricultural productivity has been accompanied by higher input use, leading to adverse effects on the environment. Until recently, analysis of farm performance has tended to ignore such negative externalities. The current emphasis on environmental issues has led dairy farmers to target improvements in both environmental performance and productivity. Therefore measuring the environmental performance of farms and integrating this information into farm productivity calculations should assist informed policy decisions which promote sustainable development. However this is a challenging process since conventional environmental efficiency measures are usually based on simple input and output flows but nitrogen discharge is a complex process which depends on climate variability, pasture and cow physiology and geophysical variability. Furthermore the outdoor, pastoral nature of New Zealand farming means that it is difficult to control input and output flows, particularly of nitrogen. Therefore this paper proposes a novel approach to measure environmental and economic efficiency of farms using the Overseer nutrient budget model and a spatially micro-simulated virtual population data. Empirical analysis is based on dairy farms in the Karapiro catchment, where nitrogen discharge from dairy farming is major source of nonpoint pollution.

Nitrogen levels in water resources in the Waikato region are increasing, mainly as a result of non-point source pollution from agricultural activities. Non-point pollution management is a complex issue requiring sufficient information and appropriate institutions. This paper considers the environmental policy literature and analyse how institutions, contract design, and monitoring and transaction costs in the presence of farm heterogeneity encourage optimal abatement. The analysis identifies the key institutional issues to be addressed in the design of appropriate policy measures to address water quality in Waikato river sub-catchment.

Nitrogen discharge into the Waikato River has been identified as the primary source of potential water quality degradation. Rising nitrogen levels in water are attributed to non point source pollution from agricultural activities. Pastoral farming is the predominant agricultural land use in the catchment. Increased nitrogen fertilizer use and higher stocking rates have the potential to increase the nitrogen loading into water. There is a range of best management practices and policies proposed to reduce nitrogen discharge from farming systems. Water quality trading is a policy tool that could improve the cost effectiveness of achieving environmental goals. Economic theory suggests that tradable pollution permit systems encourage polluters to reallocate pollution burdens to take advantage of any differences in marginal abatement costs. This paper develops an analytical frame work to derive nitrogen abatement costs for farms in a Waikato river sub-catchment. Policies and practices are evaluated using a bio-economic model of a typical pastoral farm in the Waikato river sub-catchment. Implications of pollution trading at the farm level are examined using programming simulation models.

This study describes the development of bio economic models examining the economic and water quality impact of various proposed policy options in the Upper Waikato catchment. In the first phase nitrogen emissions are determined for representative farming systems using the Overseer nutrient budget model. These model components are integrated into an economic model, which predicts producer responses to various policy options. The second phase determines catchment wide costs and water quality impacts of riparian buffers by combining geographic information system, bio economic modelling and experimental data. The results of the study signals directions for policy initiatives and further analysis exploring policy design and all costs associated with production adjustment.

In this paper we conduct an analysis of the implementation of HACCP/RMP in the NZ Meat Industry based on the data collected from our recent survey. Nonparametric methods are used to measure the association between plant characteristics such as size, age, activities, and food safety management practices and HACCP/RMP adoption motivations, implementation problems, benefits, and costs. Results give insights into the ongoing process of mandatory RMP in New Zealand.

This paper presents estimates of the benefits of clearing landmines in rural Thailand using the contingent-valuation (CV) method. The data came from a survey where we asked 341 respondents referendum-type questions that elicit their willingness to pay for landmine clearance. Our estimates imply a value of a statistical life of between US$0.2-0.3 million. The survey also provides estimates of the injury risk-death risk tradeoff and the implicit value of statistical injury. These estimates suggest that the value of lives and injuries saved from mine clearing is likely to be at least an order of magnitude greater than those used in existing studies of mine clearing. Linking a household expenditure survey involving the same sample enables the relationship between the value of statistical life and the characteristics of the households to be considered. The implications of these estimates for cost benefit studies are illustrated using the study by Harris (2000) of mine clearance in Cambodia. It is shown that the value of lives and injuries saved is likely to dominate benefit assessments when VSL estimates are used.