1,721,175 research outputs found
Large-scale land acquisitions, agricultural trade, and zoonotic diseases: Overlooked links
No full textTropical deforestation and associated risks of emerging zoonotic diseases are being driven by large-scale land acquisitions for the production of agricultural exports. Current policies on land deals and agricultural trade fail to address this
“Stepping Down the Ladder”: The Impacts of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Removal in a Developing Country
No full textFrom fields to factories: Special economic zones, foreign direct investment, and labour markets in Vietnam
Full text linkhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100006456 Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Developmen
The effects of energy price changes: heterogeneous welfare impacts and energy poverty in Indonesia
Full text linkWe study the welfare and energy poverty implications of energy price change scenarios in Indonesia. Our analysis extends previous analyses of energy price impacts at the household level in three ways. First, by employing a household energy demand system (QUAIDS), we are able to distinguish between first- and second-order welfare effects over the income distribution. Second, our results point to the ownership of energy-processing durables as another source of impact heterogeneity. Third, we extend the welfare analysis beyond the money-metric utility effects and look at energy poverty, which is understood as the absence of or imperfect access to reliable and clean modern energy services. The analysis indicates that energy prices may serve as an effective instrument to reduce energy use but also have important adverse welfare effects. The latter can, however, be mitigated by appropriate compensation policies
How vulnerable are small firms to energy price increases? Evidence from Mexico
Full text linkThe vulnerability of small firms to price shocks may partly explain why fossil fuel subsidy removals in developing countries are so difficult to implement. This paper analyzes the effects of fuel and electricity price increases on profits of micro- and small-sized enterprises in Mexico. Using representative cross-sectional data, simulations of profit losses hint at potentially large short-term effects. First-order profit losses of a 1 per cent price increase are 0.2 per cent for fuels and 0.07 per cent for electricity, but are higher than 1 per cent for fuels in the transport sector. These effects are larger for formal than for informal firms, with energy-using low-profit firms being most vulnerable. Second-order impacts - predicted using estimated input-demand elasticities - indicate that firms react to price shocks by substituting labor for energy, while the self-employed appear to increase their own labor input. Reduced-form regressions show that some firms pass on higher fuel costs to customers
The impact of minimum wages on informal and formal labor market outcomes: Evidence from Indonesia
Full text linkThis paper studies the effects of minimum wages on informal and formal sector wages and employment in Indonesia between 1997 and 2007. Applying fixed-effects methods, the estimates suggest that minimum wages have a significant positive effect on formal sector wages, while there are no spillover effects on informal workers. Regarding employment, we find no statistically significant negative effects of minimum wages on the probability of being formally employed. These findings suggest that employers use adjustment channels other than employment or that effects such as a demand stimulus on a local level outweigh the possible negative employment effects
Determinants of foreign land acquisitions in low- and middle-income countries
Full text linkThis article analyses the determinants of growing demand for agricultural land in developing countries. We propose some determinants that are specific to foreign acquisitions of agricultural land as a subset of agricultural foreign direct investment (FDI) and empirically examine the corresponding locational choice. Using a gravity model and a data set on land acquisitions worldwide, we find that the determinants partly overlap with those for other forms of FDI but are specific in certain regards. Rich investors target (poorer) economies with abundant land and water resources, and the effects of the quality of institutions are ambiguous
Large-scale farms in Zambia: Locational patterns and spillovers to smallholder agriculture
No full textA critical review of micro-level studies in tropical regions
No full textThis paper reviews 70 recent empirical and theoretical studies that analyse land-use change at the farm-household level. The review builds on a conceptual framework of land-use change drivers and conducts a meta-analysis. It turns out that the most frequently analysed scenario is the conversion of non-used forests or forested areas into land used for agricultural purposes – about a third of all considered scenarios. The second largest share is accounted for by studies that look into the conversion of non-used forests or forested areas into ranching. Most studies analyse land-use change using household and/or village data and, in doing so, often rely on relatively small samples of 100-200 observations. There is a clear regional concentration of studies on Central and South America and some studies on African countries, with only few studies on Asian countries. This is surprising, since evidence hints at high deforestation rates in South-East Asia due to logging activities and plantation agriculture. We find that a number of studies face problems of internal validity because of endogeneity (simultaneity and reverse causality) and omitted variable bias that are not adequately addressed. Despite these weaknesses, the literature points at micro-level economic growth, for example in income and capital endowments, as a strong catalyst of human induced land-use change. The rich reviewed empirical literature illustrates the complexity of micro- level land-use change processes, in particular the inter-relationships between household-level characteristics, factor market conditions, and land-use change. These are conditioned by institutions and policies. In particular, the market-oriented reforms adopted by many developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s seem to have had an important role in altering land use, while impacts of more recent policies, like PES or REDD+, still need to be better explored. However, the empirical designs of many reviewed studies fail to properly account for this complexity. Finally, the review reveals a lack of interdisciplinary work that uses integrated data and models to analyse land-use change
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