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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Jason S. Bergtold / Benjamin B. Schwab / Agricultural development is an essential factor in the economic development of much of the developing world and comprises a significant element of foreign assistance portfolios. Over the last decade, there has seen a renewed interest in more credible estimates of the economic impacts of development programs, such as assistance to extension programs. We compare the estimation of technical efficiency to farm output and income as an outcome variable to evaluate the impact of development programs such as farm education and extension programs. We develop a simple theoretical model which shows that using technical efficiency as an outcome variable could be a viable alternative to more traditionally used outcome variables such as farm output and farm profit. We note that when farmers are capital constrained, extension programs can theoretically have a large efficiency effect despite a small or zero change in farm profits. If farm technical efficiency is used as an outcome variable, then it must be estimated correctly. Mismeasurement of farm technical efficiency leads to misleading extension program evaluations. Farm households face heterogeneous infrastructural constraints (Suri 2011; Ojiem et al. 2006), credit constraints, information barriers and other input market constraints (Duflo, Kremer and Robinson 2011; Jack 201; Suri 2011and Stifel and Minten 2008), labor markets constraints (Henning and Henningsen 2007), socio-economical (Ojiem et al. 2006) and non-farm income opportunities (Chang et al. 2012) and thus have different access to agricultural inputs and outputs. These constraints have a substantial impact on agricultural production decisions of farm households. A key production decision of farm households is the allocation of resource to cash and food crops. Production of cash crops requires relatively higher market involvement in both the purchase of inputs and the selling of output than home-consumed food crops. The heterogeneous constraints across farm households leads to a substantial imbalance in the transaction costs associated with the production of each crop. Moreover, home-consumed crops may have quality attributes (e.g. color, taste, softness of dough, and suitability for certain dishes) not reflected in market prices. Factors such as transaction costs, crop quality attributes, and other factors such as household characteristics are farmer specific and drive a heterogeneous price wedge between the market prices for household’s crop production and the economic value of these crops for the household. These distinctions have important implication for farm productivity analysis, such as technical efficiency measurement. The standard approach to productivity analysis, such as efficiency estimation, assume that farm households face homogenous price wedges that leads to homogenous set of production and profit functions. However, the price gap created by transaction costs, crop quality attributes, and other factors such as household characteristics generally vary among subsistence, semi-subsistence and commercial farmers and leads to a heterogeneous set of profit and production frontiers. Subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers who produce largely home consumed crops have potentially greater price wedges than commercial farmers. Failing to account for the heterogeneity in price wedges that drive heterogeneity profit and production frontiers is likely to lead to underestimation of the efficiency of subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers. We test if traditional productivity analysis indeed underestimates the efficiency of subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers by employing a conditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model for household survey data in Uganda. Results confirm that naïve estimates of efficiency understate the efficiency scores of subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers. The results cast doubt on policies, such as extension programs or other information treatments, that interpret low efficiency scores for subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers as a management shortfall. We demonstrate the use of farm technical efficiency as an outcome measure by analyzing data from 2008-2012 for farm training program in Armenia. In this program, farmers received technical guidance on modern farm techniques. Two previous evaluations (Schwab and Shanoyan 2016; Fortson et al. 2012) find ambiguous evidence that farm profits increased. The measurement or potential gain from an extension program is captured using farm technical efficiency measures. We find evidence that the program in Armenia increased farm technical efficiency from 2008 to 2012.

The U.S. tung oil industry began as a government experiment in plant diversification but businessmen mistakenly interpreted this interest as an endorsement of domestic production and began growing tung trees in the Gulf South states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The new crop quickly caught the attention of paint, varnish, and ink companies in the northern and Midwestern states and created a buzz among chemurgists like Henry Ford and other industrialists who eagerly expanded tung acreage. With the erection of the first crushing mill in 1928, the tung oil industry began but it did not acquire any semblance of maturity until World War II. The war thrust the nascent tung oil industry into strategic status. Used as a varnish on military airplanes and naval vessels, a brake lining, a machinery lubricant, a liner for tin cans, and as electrical insulation, demand exceeded supply. Traditional consumers had such a difficult time purchasing tung oil during the war that they turned to other oilseeds or new synthetic oils. The war both aided and crippled tung oil by highlighting its chemurgic uses and deterring consumers given that shortages encouraged the quest for alternatives. Despite a barrage of synthetic competitors and imports, domestic tung growers continued production in the hopes that the discovery of new industrial markets would increase demand and attract government support in the form of parity, tariffs, and quotas. Between 1949 and 1969, a series of agricultural policies granted protection but from the outset federal support proved reluctant and tenuous because production remained miniscule, quotas threatened to heighten diplomatic tensions, and wealthy, part-time growers comprised the bulk of parity recipients. Hurricane Camille has often received credit for bringing a swift end to the industry but imports, competitive oilseeds, synthetics, and freezes had delivered powerful blows to the extent that many farmers stopped growing tung long before 1969. Indeed, Camille proved nothing more than a death knell to a waning industry that had become dependent on government largesse.

No description available.

Sugar has a long history of being a contentious commodity important in international trade. Initially, the global framework for sugar trade was based on sugarcane, a grass grown in the tropics with trade being dictated largely by the British. In the Napoleonic wars, commercialization of the beet sugar industry arose on the continent in response to and a direct challenge to British control over the industry. The advent of the temperate sugar beet as an alternative to tropical cane in sugar production opened up a north-south trading dynamic that exists to this day. The United States, although a late entry into sugar production, is now at the forefront of the debate on trade liberalization for sugar, which can be produced more economically and out of greater necessity in a battery of nations, many with developing economies. Between 2003 and 2007, the United States ranked 5th in production, averaging 5% of the world total, and 2nd in total imports averaging 4%. Sugar as a percentage of the total value of the crop in the US is relatively minor at roughly 2.5% of the total putting it well below crops like corn and cotton, on par with tobacco and rice and greater than peanuts. Currently, the US sugar program operates on a price support system which regulates imports from other countries and provides a price floor for sugar. However, the US Sugar sector is under pressure for reform both by other nations with a comparative advantage in sugar production and from within due to an impending NAFTA commitment that allows for free trade with Mexico in sugar beginning in 2008. With large amounts of Mexican sugar entering the United States, the market price will likely fall below the price floor established by the USDA and there will be large amounts of forfeitures to the Commodity Credit Corporation. This would be in direct violation of the government mandate to keep the US sugar program operating at no government cost. In this thesis, we lay out a matrix of possible alternative policy scenarios and potential exogenous shocks which could impact the US sugar sector. Using the USDA ERS Sugar and Sweeteners model, we illustrate the outcome of this matrix of policies and exogenous shocks to the biggest players in the North American sugar sector. Policies used in the model draw inspiration from the recent reforms to the sugar sector in the European Union and recent commodity program reforms in the US for peanuts and tobacco. Finally, the implications of various policy reform options are discussed in light of their ambition and likelihood. / Master of Science

After the break-up of the former Soviet Union in 1991, several states declared independence, including the Republic of Kazakhstan. Under the centralised soviet system Kazakhstan provided mainly raw materials to the USSR, and agriculture operated under a Moscow-based command and control model. Kazakhstan possesses vast wealth of mineral and energy resources and its agricultural land is well able to ensure national food security. However, after independence the rapid and frequently unplanned state actions such as land reform, taken to move from socialism to a market economy, were not always successful and the state of agriculture was initially one of chaos. A major exodus from the land to the cities ensued. Gradually Kazakhstani agriculture recovered some of its productivity but still lags well behind developed nations in the use of ICT supported agricultural information management (AIM). This research contributes to new knowledge in the area of ICT-based AIM by supplementing the limited statistical and scientific analyses of Kazakh agriculture by seeking to discover, through semi-structured interviews, the views and perceptions of agrarians who are both the customers and end users of ICT-based AIM in a post-soviet state. The researcher established that agrarian stakeholders were aware of the need for a centralised AIM system, but felt that to implement it, more assistance was required from the state. Kazakhstan can learn from the experiences of both developed and developing countries in furthering ICT-based AIM, and although its situation is unique, understanding of the perceptions of end users, who have had to make a series of flawed initiatives work, will arguably be relevant to policy makers in other post-soviet states.

This thesis investigates whether developments associated with globalization and regional integration have caused the levels of government support provided to agricultural producers in Canada and the United States to converge in a downward direction. The literature is sharply divided as to whether governments retain the ability to pursue an independent agricultural policy course. To shed light on this debate, the levels of government assistance payments made to farmers in six contiguous Canadian provinces and American states (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana) are compared over the 1990-2001 period. This time-frame allows for sufficient periods both before and after the establishment of NAFTA and the WTO to study the effects of these developments on the relevant policy outcomes. After outlining the programs and policy changes that drove the shifts in levels of government support provided to farmers, the paper argues that although the levels of government payments made to farmers in the six sub-units converged in the mid-1990s, they diverged thereafter. The evidence drawn from this examination supports the contention that governments do possess considerable room to manoeuvre in the agricultural policy making arena and significant ability to chart an independent policy course.

This study aims at examine why the agricultural policy in Sweden and Finland has turned out different, despite the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The study is a compare case study where Sweden and Finland are used to draw general conclusions. The question asked to pursue the aim are; what kind of agricultural goals did Sweden and Finland negotiate for during the membership-process to the European Union (EU), what kind of agricultural goals did the both states negotiate for during the reform of CAP 2003 and 2015, are their differences in the national regulations that can explain the actual development and can the agricultural policy today be seen as a result from the goals during the membership-process? In this study an analytical model is created and used to analyze the aim, the model is based on the theory of historical institutionalism to describe the general development and it’s also applied in the empirical analysis. The empirical material consists of books, articles and primary document etc. One general conclusion asserts that the actual development in the agricultural policy can be traced back in the historic context. In Sweden’s case the process can be connected to the agricultural deregulation that took place before the membership. In Finland’s case the development can be associated with the overproduction during the 1960-1970 and its goals with a high level of self-sufficiency. Another conclusion affirms that the national regulation where Sweden and Finland has had the opportunity to shape their own regulations and structures is one of several explanations to the aim.

Regulations are often an object of interest of the economists. Some of them criticize regulations because they deform the market. The others appreciate their ability to redistribute the wealth in the society. The purpose of my thesis is to analyze the regulations in a specific agriculture market - production of milk. I supposed this part of agriculture market to be very interesting. There are some reasons: milk is a product of daily requirement, it is hardly to substitute, but still there are two levels of regulation - the European and the Czech one. The thesis is composed of six chapters. They are ordered from the general to particular facts. The used methods are mainly description and historical method. Interdisciplinary approach is also used. The first chapter focuses on the economic theory of regulation. The chapter is subdivided into parts that are dealing with market failures, capture theory, public interest, competition and monopoly. The conclusion of this chapter is as follows: the regulation in our economies exists because of the capture theory. Chapter Two explains the regulations on the European level. The conclusions of the previous chapter are proved and the reasons for regulation creating as well as its main problems are described. It also explains the reform of common agriculture...

A agropecuária brasileira passou por intensas transformações desde meados do século XIX, dentre as quais se destaca a fase mais intensa de seu processo de modernização (1960-70) que colocou o Brasil entre os principais players mundiais do agronegócio, mas também ampliou a heterogeneidade produtiva e econômica no meio rural brasileiro. Essa tese, composta por dois artigos e uma seção de contextualização histórica, teve como objetivo identificar os fatores relevantes do processo de modernização da agropecuária brasileira presentes em 2006, após cerca de 50 anos da fase denominada \"industrialização da agricultura\", avaliar como esses aspectos se comportam regionalmente e identificar grupos homogêneos de municípios com relação aos seus indicadores de modernização agropecuária. O primeiro artigo teve como proposta a identificação dos fatores relevantes de modernização e, para isso, foram aplicadas técnicas de Análise Fatorial a um conjunto de 30 indicadores de modernização de 4.535 municípios brasileiros no ano de 2006. Os resultados apontaram como fatores relevantes: 1) Lucratividade e tecnologia poupa-terra, concentrada na região Sudeste, em partes da região Sul e em parte expressiva da faixa litorânea do país; 2) Capitalização e tecnificação da criação animal, distribuída de maneira relativamente uniforme entre as regiões; 3) Capitalização e tecnificação agrícola, com forte concentração na região Sul e alguns focos no Sudeste e Centro-Oeste; 4) Relação capital-trabalho, com forte concentração nas regiões Centro-Oeste e Sudeste e alguns focos na região Sul. Pôde-se observar que, mesmo sendo a modernização agropecuária um processo diverso e multifacetado, há forte heterogeneidade econômica e produtiva entre os municípios e a região Nordeste se destaca pelo seu atraso tecnológico e pelas adversidades estruturais e climáticas que enfrenta, além da insuficiência das políticas agrícolas adotadas no início dos anos 2000 com relação à mitigação desse problema. O segundo artigo teve o objetivo de identificar grupos homogêneos de municípios com base em seus indicadores de modernização, estabelecendo quais os mais modernos e quais os mais vulneráveis em termos econômicos e produtivos. Para isso utilizou-se de uma análise de clusters (model-based-clusters) aplicada ao mesmo conjunto de variáveis e municípios. Os resultados apontaram para a formação de 9 clusters com características distintas em termos de modernização. Os três clusters menos modernos concentram grande parte de seus municípios nas regiões Norte e Nordeste, sobretudo no semiárido brasileiro, e demonstram grande precariedade de capacitação, capitalização e adoção de práticas modernas. Os três clusters intermediários concentram parcela expressiva de seus municípios na região Centro-Oeste e parte da região Sudeste, apresentando, cada qual, características específicas que estão associadas ao tipo de produção (agricultura ou produção animal). Os três clusters mais modernos estão, em grande medida, concentrados nas regiões Sul e Sudeste e apresentaram valores expressivamente superiores às médias nacionais na maioria dos indicadores de modernização analisados, com destaque para o uso de insumos químicos, o grau de capitalização, o acesso ao crédito e à orientação técnica. Em suma, o processo de modernização da agropecuária brasileira, contribuiu para o expressivo aumento da produtividade, mas também para o aumento da heterogeneidade produtiva e econômica no campo. Os resultados dessa tese indicam que, mesmo após a implementação de políticas voltadas à agricultura familiar e à reforma agrária, a heterogeneidade persiste e, dada a menor importância atribuída pelo Estado às políticas atreladas aos serviços gerais para a agropecuária, como a melhoria de infraestrutura, capacitação, pesquisa e difusão da orientação técnica, essas condições tendem a se perpetuar. / The Brazilian agriculture underwent intense transformations since the middle of the nineteenth century, among which is the most intense phase of its modernization process (1960-70) that placed Brazil among the main players in the world agribusiness, but also expanded productive and economic heterogeneity among farmers. This thesis, made up of two articles and a section of historical contextualization, aimed to identify the relevant factors of the modernization process of the Brazilian agriculture present in 2006, after about 50 years of the phase called \"industrialization of agriculture\", to evaluate how these aspects behave regionally, and to identify homogeneous groups of municipalities in relation to their agricultural modernization indicators. The first article aimed the identification of the relevant factors of modernization and, for this, techniques of Factor Analysis were applied to a set of 30 modernization indicators of 4,535 Brazilian municipalities in the year of 2006. The results pointed as relevant factors: 1) Profitability and saving-land technology, concentrated in the Southeast region, in parts of the South region and in part expressive of the coastal strip of the country; 2) Capitalization and technification of animal husbandry, less concentrated among regions; 3) Capitalization and technification of agriculture, with strong concentration in the South region and some foci in the Southeast and Midwest; 4) Capital-labor ratio, with a strong concentration in the Midwest and Southeast regions and some foci in the South. Although agricultural modernization is a diverse and multifaceted process, economic and productive heterogeneity is significant among municipalities and the Northeast region stands out for its technological backwardness and the structural and climatic adversities it faces, as well as the insufficiency of agricultural policies adopted in the early 2000s to mitigate this problem. The second article aimed to identify homogeneous groups of municipalities based on their modernization indicators, establishing which are the most modern and which are most vulnerable in economic and productive terms. For this, we used a Cluster Analysis (model-based-clusters) applied to the same set of variables and municipalities. The results pointed to the formation of 9 clusters with distinct characteristics in terms of modernization. The three less modern clusters concentrate a large part of their municipalities in the North and Northeast regions, especially in the Brazilian semi-arid region, and show precariousness of capacity building, capitalization and adoption of modern practices. The three intermediate clusters concentrate a significant portion of their municipalities in the Midwest and part of the Southeast region, each presenting specific characteristics that are associated with the type of production (agriculture or livestock). The three most modern clusters are to a large extent concentrated in the South and Southeast regions and presented values significantly higher than the national averages in most of the modernization indicators analyzed, with emphasis on the use of chemical inputs, the degree of capitalization, credit and technical guidance. In short, the process of modernization of Brazilian agriculture has contributed to the significant increase in productivity, but also to the increase of productive and economic heterogeneity in the countryside. The results of this thesis indicate that, even after implementing policies aimed at family agriculture and agrarian reform, heterogeneity persists and, given the lower importance attributed by the State to policies linked to general services for agriculture and livestock, such as the improvement of infrastructure, training, research and dissemination of technical guidance, these conditions tend to perpetuate.