Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh

Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18,

Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics

When we leave our closet, and engage in the common affairs of life, (reason's) conclusions seem to vanish, like the phantoms of the night on the appearance of the morning; and 'tis difficult for us to retain even that conviction, which we had attained with difficulty (Hume, 1739/, p 507). we must constantly adjust our lives, our thoughts and our emotions, in order to live simultaneously within different kinds of orders according to different rules. If we were to apply the unmodified, uncurbed rules (of caring intervention to do visible 'good') of the small band or troop, or our families to the (extended order of cooperation through markets), as our instincts and sentimental yearnings often make us wish to do, we would destroy it. Yet if we were to always apply the (noncooperative) rules of the extended order to our more intimate groupings, we would crush them. (Hayek, 1988, p 18). (Italics are his, parenthetical reductions are mine).behavioral economics; experimental economics

An Anatomy of State Failures in The Forest Management in Pakistan

Deforestation remains one of the most intractable environmental problems of today. Pakistan also faces serious problem of depletion of its forest reserves.The general perception among planners is that over population is the primary culprit behind forest degradation. Moreover, people living close to forestlands, and using it for their needs, show an imprudent behaviour towards these forests and use it in an unsustainable manner. So there is tendency among the policy makers to find ways of keeping people away from this resource, and to strengthen government’s hold over it. This is a rather simplistic conception of the issue since most of the forests in Pakistan are state owned/managed, and responsibility for the protection/conservation of these forests rests with the state, therefore, any inquiry into the causes of forest degradation in Pakistan must analyse the state’s role in it. Putting the entire burden of deforestation on ‘other factors’ shifts attention away from more important causes (namely, failure of government to manage forests), and leads to wrong policy conclusions. This study intends to focus attention on this important factor behind deforestation - the role of state in forest degradation in Pakistan.State Failures, Deforestation

Welfare of horses transported to slaughter in Canada and Iceland: Assessment of welfare issues and associated risk factors

The welfare of horses transported for slaughter is a growing concern in several countries, including Canada, Iceland and the United States of America (USA). Slaughter of horses involves transportation of horses to a regulated facility and slaughter procedures such as lairage and stunning. The main objective of this study was to identify welfare issues and associated risk factors, particularly those associated with transportation. A welfare assessment protocol was developed to identify pertinent welfare issues, such as injuries, dehydration and fitness for transportation. Prevalence of horses with injuries, a pre-existing clinical condition, a body condition score of less than 3 (on a scale of 5) and those in a non-ambulatory state were calculated. Skin temperature, respiration rate, blood lactate concentration, blood glucose concentration, plasma osmolality, plasma total protein concentration and packed cell volume were also measured. Welfare assessment of horses in Iceland was undertaken before and after transportation to the slaughter plant and at slaughter. Forty six journeys lasting up to 3 hours were studied. Welfare issues identified were the prevalence of bruising and dehydration. Adults were more prone to bruising and dehydration than foals. Some horses showed signs of consciousness after stunning (1.6%) indicating ineffective stunning. In Canada, a prospective study observed 150 truckloads of horses after transportation to a Canadian slaughter plant. Associations between risk factors and welfare outcomes were evaluated using linear regression models. Welfare issues identified were prevalence of injuries, pre-existing clinical conditions, low body condition scores, and the presence of some non-ambulatory horses. There was a significant association between journey duration and the number of horses per truckload with injuries. Signs of dehydration were identified and were associated with journey duration and season. Blood lactate concentration at slaughter indicated increased anaerobic metabolic activity, which was affected by season (summer or winter) and lairage duration. A retrospective study was performed by collating data from all shipper certificates obtained from USDA for journeys in 2009 from the USA to equine slaughter plants in Canada. This study identified journey durations range from one hour to 105 hours. Some injuries in horses transported for slaughter were visible at ante-mortem inspection, whereas other injuries, such as bruises were not visible until post-mortem examination. Digital infrared thermography (DT) was evaluated as a potential tool to detect bruising ante-mortem. A preliminary study to evaluate factors affecting skin temperature (as measured by DT) indicated that an outdoor environment significantly affected skin temperature measured on different regions of interest (ROI) compared with an indoor environment. However, thermal symmetry between ROIs was maintained in outdoor conditions. Using these findings, a second study was performed to evaluate the methodology to detect bruising ante-mortem. Sensitivity to detect bruising was low, possibly due to selection of horses that did not spend time in lairage (i.e. there was no equilibrium time for skin temperature to stabilise after transport). In conclusion, in Canada, injuries and dehydration were mainly associated with journey duration, aggressive behaviour between horses and season. In Iceland, injuries and dehydration were mainly associated with age (adult or foal)

Reforming Cote d'Ivoire's cocoa marketing and pricing system

Cote d'Ivoire has historically taxed cocoa producers. Market reforms over the past 10 years have somewhat succeeded in making domestic and foreign marketing more transparent and competitive. But they have not done much to raise producer prices in real terms or as a share of the FOB (free on board) price. Maintaining fixed producer prices and marketing costs and margins has encouraged rent-seeking and led to efficiency losses. New reform will fully liberalize the country's export marketing system by eliminating public management of exports. This means the end of mandatory export authorization, of public forward sales, and of fixed minimum producer prices and marketing margins. The new reform is expected to improve producers'incomes. The authors find that the benefits from the new reform (in terms of lower implicit taxes, lower marketing costs and margins, and higher producer prices) will outweigh the costs from eliminating public forward sales and fixed producer prices. Results from a general equilibrium model indicate that reducing export taxes would have a small negative effect on aggregate income but would improve income distribution for poorer rural areas. The fact that Cote d'Ivoire has market power in the world cocoa market justifies a higher optimal export tax than the current one. But raising export taxes may eventually reduce its market share and worsen income distribution, at the expense of the poorer rural sector.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Labor Policies,Consumption,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies

Preserving the history of United States agriculture and rural life: state and local literature, 1820-1945; Ohio bibliography

The bibliography covers literature published in Ohio, 1820-1945, related to agriculture and rural life. The items listed in the bibliography were reviewed by a panel of scholars and ranked for preservation microfilming. The funding for this project was through a grant to the United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN) and Cornell University by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of a national program to preserve agricultural literature.National Endowment for the HumanitiesUnited States Agricultural Information NetworkCornell UniversityMonographs Serials Dissertations and these