1,721,184 research outputs found
Policy impact analysis in competitive agricultural markets: a real options approach
No full textIn consequence of strong changes in general economic conditions, adjustments in the agricultural sector can be expected. To date, however, there are only few policy impact analyses on agricultural investments in a dynamic-stochastic context. The objective of this paper is to develop a real options market model which allows the impact assessment of different political schemes. The model combines genetic algorithms and stochastic simulation. Simulations of the model show that investment subsidies and production ceilings are preferable to price floors because the welfare is less reduced for a given stimulation of the willingness to invest
How does tenancy affect farmland prices? Effects of lease status, lease term and buyer type
No full textPurpose
Lease contracts at the time of sale influence buyers' expectations about future returns of farmland ownership and may thus contribute to price dispersion. This paper investigates the conjecture that existing land lease contracts influence buyers' and sellers' costs of being information deficient and thus their bargaining position, their expectation formation about future returns, and thus ultimately the farmland price.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors link different levels of information, search, and bargaining costs to three buyer types and their land use intentions. Relying on a rich dataset of farmland transactions in the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt from 2014 to 2019, the authors use a hedonic pricing model to investigate five hypotheses applying multivariate one-sided tests.
Findings
The authors find buyer-specific effects related to lease status and lease term of a lot. Tenant buyers pay less than non-farmer buyers for leased lots, whereas non-tenant farmers pay a markup. While prices decrease for all buyer groups with an increasing lease term, this effect is the strongest for non-tenant farmer buyers. This study’s results suggest that an existing lease contract impacts buyers' costs of being information deficient, their bargaining positions and expectation formation, and ultimately the price discovery process.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that decomposes the effects of tenancy on farmland prices by buyer type and lease term. The study provides insights into price dispersion for identical characteristics of farmland and explains why empirical studies have found mixed or no empirical evidence that lease contracts influence the price discovery process
Price Formation on Land Market Auctions in East Germany – An Empirical Analysis
No full textAlthough determinants of agricultural land prices have received considerable attention in the literature, little is known about price formation on structured markets such as land auctions. This paper aims to empirically test theoretical predictions regarding price formation in land market auctions. The analysis is conducted for the case of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, where state-owned land constitutes a significant share of the agricultural land market. The utilised data consists of public auction data provided by the Land-gesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt (i.e. the rural development agency in Saxony-Anhalt), and covers approximately 700 calls for bids from 2003 to 2010, supplemented with regional and structural data. Spatial correlation of land prices is considered by applying a spatial econometrics approach. Our analysis shows that apart from land characteristics, the number of bidders and the share of non-agricultural investors have an impact on the land price
Price Formation on Land Market Auctions in East Germany – An Empirical Analysis
No full textAlthough determinants of agricultural land prices have received considerable attention in the literature, little is known about price formation on structured markets such as land auctions. This paper aims to empirically test theoretical predictions regarding price formation in land market auctions. The analysis is conducted for the case of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, where state-owned land constitutes a significant share of the agricultural land market. The utilised data consists of public auction data provided by the Land-gesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt (i.e. the rural development agency in Saxony-Anhalt), and covers approximately 700 calls for bids from 2003 to 2010, supplemented with regional and structural data. Spatial correlation of land prices is considered by applying a spatial econometrics approach. Our analysis shows that apart from land characteristics, the number of bidders and the share of non-agricultural investors have an impact on the land price
Market Power in Agricultural Land Markets: Concepts and Empirical Challenges
No full textThis paper provides review about challenges and opportunities to assess and quantify market power in agricultural land markets. Measuring land market power is challenging because the characteristics of this production factor hinder the direct application of familiar concepts from commodity markets. Immobility, fixed availability, and large heterogeneity of land and potential users contradict assumptions of fictitious point market for homogeneous goods. Moreover, the use of concentration indicators for policy assessments is hampered by two problems. First, defining the relevant regional size of the market is challenging and concentration indicators are not robust with regard to market size and number of actors. Second, high concentration of land ownership or land operation may point at potential market power, but it may also be the result of an efficient allocation of land due to structural change in agriculture. The aforementioned challenges are illustrated with a case study for the Federal State of Brandenburg in Germany. Using available data for land sales, a regression analysis reveals a negative relationship between land use concentration and farmland prices. This result can be interpreted as an indication of market power on the buyer side in agricultural land markets. However, it is hardly possible to translate this finding into recommendations for land market regulations because the evaluation of the potential misuse of dominant positions in land markets requires a case-specific analysis. Providing evidence for the exertion of market power in land markets is extremely complex and deserves further attention from researchers and politicians.
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Beiträge des 2. Doktorandenworkshops zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa 2004
Full text linkDieses Discussion Paper enthält die Kurzfassungen der Beiträge, die im Rahmen des Workshops zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s vorgestellt und diskutiert werden sollen. Dieser Workshop findet nach der erfreulichen Reso-nanz im vergangenen Jahr nun zum zweiten Mal, vom 17. bis 19. Juni 2004, am IAMO statt, wobei die Anzahl der eingereichten Beiträge noch über dem Wert des Vorjahres lag. Ziel der Veranstaltung ist es, Nachwuchswissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit zu geben, Ihre Forschungs-vorhaben zu präsentieren und zu diskutieren. Die folgenden Kurzfassungen sollen allerdings nicht nur als Diskussionsgrundlage für den Workshop dienen, sondern auch einen Querschnittsüberblick über die gegenwärtige Nach-wuchsforschung im Agrarbereich zu Mittel- und Osteuropa vermitteln. Wir denken, dass ein breites Spektrum von relevanten Themen bearbeitet wird. Dies entspricht einerseits dem in-terdisziplinären Ansatz in der Agrarökonomie, andererseits zeigt es, dass die Diskussion mit Nachbarwissenschaften wie Politikwissenschaften oder Geographie fruchtbar geführt werden kann. Hervorzuheben ist weiterhin der hohe Anteil von Wissenschaftlern aus dem europäi-schen Ausland, die am Workshop teilnehmen. Dieser Umstand dokumentiert die europäische Dimension des Themas und unterstreicht die Rolle des IAMOs als Forum des wissenschaftli-chen Austausches. Wir wünschen uns, dass der Workshop zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s zu fruchtbaren Diskussionen anregt und hoffen, dass die vorlie-gende Zusammenstellung dazu beiträgt, den Erfahrungsaustausch auch über den engeren Kreis der unmittelbar Beteiligten hinaus zu fördern. -- E N G L I S H V E R S I O N: This Discussion Paper contains the contributions to be presented at the "Workshop zur Agrar-entwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s" to take place at IAMO from 17 to 19 June 2004. After last year’s positive resonance, the workshop is held for the second time with an increased number of contributions. It is the aim of the event to give young scientist the opportunity to present and discuss their research. The following short versions of the contributions shall not only serve as a basis for discussion during the workshop, but also offer a cross-sectional overview of current research on agricul-ture in Central and Eastern Europe done by young scientists. We think a broad spectrum of topics is covered. On the one hand, this is due to the interdisciplinary approach in agricultural economics, on the other hand, it shows that stimulating exchange with neighbouring disciplines such as political science or geography is possible. We also want to stress the significant con-tribution of scientists originating from European countries other than Germany, which docu-ments IAMO’s role as a forum of scientific exchange. It is our hope that the "Workshop zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Dokto-randen und Post-Doc’s" stimulates fruitful discussion and that the current compilation fosters exchange beyond those immediately involved in the workshop.
Spatial competition of learning agents in agricultural procurement markets
Full text linkSpatially dispersed farmers supply raw milk as the primary input to a small number of large dairy-processing firms. The spatial competition of processing firms has short- to long-term repercussions on farm and processor structure, as it determines the regional demand for raw milk and the resulting raw milk price. A number of recent analytical and empirical contributions in the literature analyse the spatial price competition of processing firms in milk markets. Agent-based models (ABMs) serve by now as computational laboratories in many social science and interdisciplinary fields and are recently also introduced as bottom-up approaches to help understand market outcomes emerging from autonomously deciding and interacting agents. Despite ABMs' strengths, the inclusion of interactive learning by intelligent agents is not sufficiently matured. Although the literature of multi-agent systems (MASs) and multi-agent economic simulation are related fields of research they have progressed along separate paths. This thesis takes us through some basic steps involved in developing a theoretical basis for designing multi-agent learning in spatial economic ABMs. Each of the three main chapters of the thesis investigates a core issue for designing interactive learning systems with the overarching aim of better understanding the emergence of pricing behaviour in real, spatial agricultural markets. An important problem in the competitive spatial economics literature is the lack of a rigorous theoretical explanation for observed collusive behavior in oligopsonistic markets. The first main chapter theoretically derives how the incorporation of foresight in agents' pricing policy in spatial markets might move the system towards cooperative Nash equilibria. It is shown that a basic level of foresight invites competing firms to cease limitless price wars. Introducing the concept of an outside option into the agents' decisions within a dynamic pricing game reveals viihow decreasing returns for increasing strategic thinking correlates with the relevance of transportation costs. In the second main chapter, we introduce a new learning algorithm for rational agents using H-PHC (hierarchical policy hill climbing) in spatial markets. While MASs algorithms are typically just applicable to small problems, we show experimentally how a community of multiple rational agents is able to overcome the coordination problem in a variety of spatial (and non-spatial) market games of rich decision spaces with modest computational effort. The theoretical explanation of emerging price equilibria in spatial markets is much disputed in the literature. The majority of papers attribute the pricing behavior of processing firms (mill price and freight absorption) merely to the spatial structure of markets. Based on a computational approach with interactive learning agents in two-dimensional space, the third main chapter suggests that associating the extent of freight absorption just with the factor space can be ambiguous. In addition, the pricing behavior of agricultural processors – namely the ability to coordinate and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes - also depends on their ability to learn from each other
Technological innovations and sustainability transitions in the bioeconomy: A multiscalar approach toward the development of bioclusters
Full text linkThe bioeconomy offers solutions to urgent sustainability challenges, such as climate change, resource scarcity, and world hunger. Bioclusters, which are localized hubs of bioeconomy activities, can create synergies in the use of natural resources and new technological knowledge, thereby providing fertile ground for sustainability transitions and technological innovations in the bioeconomy. Following an interdisciplinary perspective, this dissertation adopts a multiscalar view toward bioclusters to link them with broader contexts and study their role in the bioeconomy transition. By employing quantitative and qualitative methodologies, I analyze the technological and ecological development of the French Bazancourt-Pomacle biocluster. The results reveal the dynamics and interrelations among specific scales and levels linked to positive ecological and technological outcomes, providing valuable insights for policymakers and managers aiming to advance the bioeconomy.Die Bioökonomie bietet Lösungen für dringende Nachhaltigkeitsprobleme wie den Klimawandel, Ressourcenknappheit und Welthunger. Biokluster, als lokalisierte Zentren für bioökonomische Aktivitäten, können durch Synergien in der Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen und neuer technologischer Kenntnisse einen fruchtbaren Boden für Nachhaltigkeitsübergänge und technologische Innovationen in der Bioökonomie schaffen. In dieser Dissertation wird mit einem interdisziplinären Ansatz und multiskalaren Perspektive die Rolle von Biokluster im Übergang zur Bioökonomie untersucht. Durch den Einsatz quantitativer und qualitativer Methoden analysiere ich die technologische und ökologische Entwicklung des französischen Bioklusters Bazancourt-Pomacle. Die Ergebnisse zeigen die Dynamik zwischen spezifischen Skalen und Ebenen im Zusammenhang mit positiven ökologischen und technologischen Ergebnissen auf und liefern wertvolle Erkenntnisse für Entscheidungsträger, die die Bioökonomie vorantreiben möchten
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