Farmers’ preferences for cotton cultivation characteristics : a discrete choice experiment in Burkina Faso

While a fierce debate about the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified crops is ongoing, it is surprising that farmers are often not consulted. In Burkina Faso, where insect resistant Bollgard II (R) cotton (further termed Bt cotton) was commercially released in 2008, studies highlight that cotton producers are in general satisfied with the reduction in insecticide use while the economic benefits are a source of controversy. To gain insight into farmers' preferences towards attributes in cotton cultivation, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was developed. Five key attributes were identified to describe improved cotton varieties: seed development and provenance, seed costs, yield, required number of insecticide sprays, and preservation of agricultural practices. Farm-gate surveys were conducted among 324 cotton farmers in Western Burkina Faso. The results show that overall, farmers have a positive preference towards yield improvements and a negative preference towards pure private seed development and towards an increase in the requested number of insecticide applications or in the seed costs. According to their varieties at the time of the surveys (Bt and non-Bt), a difference was observed regarding their preferences for a status quo situation, indicating that those growing Bt had a stronger preference to keep the status quo than non-Bt farmers. When dividing the sample in segments based on the farm size, it was shown that there were different preferences with respect to the development of the variety and the required number of insecticide applications. Overall, it can be concluded from this study that economic benefits (linked to higher yields, lower seed costs, or reduced pesticide use) shape farmer's preferences

Technology and the environment: an evolutionary approach to sustainable technological change

(WP 02/04 Clave pdf) The results of our model show that it would be advisable to undertake policies expressly aimed at the process of sustainable technological change in a way that is complementary to the conventional equilibrium oriented environmental policies. In short, the main objectives of this paper are to understand more fully the dynamics of the process of technological change, its role in sustainable development, and to assess the implications of this dynamic approach to techno-environmental policy. To achieve these goals we have developed an agent based model, using distributed artificial intelligence concepts drawn from the general methodology of social simulation.Agent-based models, Evolutionary models, Lock-in , Standardization, Technology difussion, Sustainability

IE WP 02/04 Technology and the environment: an evolutionary approach to sustainable technological change

Can the individual actions of agents spontaneously move the system out of a state where it is locked into an environmentally inferior technology, or is coordination from outside the system necessary in the form of public intervention? More importantly, even if the system were able to make the transition unaided, could market coordination mechanisms play an important role? The results of our model show that it would be advisable to undertake policies expressly aimed at the process of sustainable technological change –applying an ex ante (precautionary) approach– in a way that is complementary to the conventional equilibrium oriented environmental policies. The nature of these policies and how they might be implemented are questions we will address from this novel approach to the concept of sustainable development. In short, the main objectives of this paper are to understand more fully the dynamics of the process of technological change, its role in sustainable development, and to assess the implications of this dynamic approach to techno-environmental policy. To achieve these goals we have developed an agent based model (ABM), using distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) concepts drawn from the general methodology of social simulation.Technology diffusion; standardization; lock-in; sustainability; precautionary approach; evolutionary models; agent-based models

Designing IS service strategy: an information acceleration approach

Information technology-based innovation involves considerable risk that requires insight and foresight. Yet, our understanding of how managers develop the insight to support new breakthrough applications is limited and remains obscured by high levels of technical and market uncertainty. This paper applies a new experimental method based on “discrete choice analysis” and “information acceleration” to directly examine how decisions are made in a way that is behaviourally sound. The method is highly applicable to information systems researchers because it provides relative importance measures on a common scale, greater control over alternate explanations and stronger evidence of causality. The practical implications are that information acceleration reduces the levels of uncertainty and generates a more accurate rationale for IS service strategy decisions

Methods For Fuzzy Demand Assessment For IT Specialties

The rapid development of information technologies and their penetration into various spheres of human activity cause a sharply increased demand for IT specialists, in many countries of the world far exceeding the supply on them. High rates of technological transformation contribute to the diversification of the IT segment of the labor market, on the one hand, stimulate the disappearance of some and the emergence of new IT specialties, on the other. This creates a discrepancy between the structure of IT-related education and the labor market demand for IT specialists of the required profile and determines the relevance of developing methods for assessing the demand for IT specialties.This article is devoted to the study and solution of the problem of identifying the demand for IT specialties in the absence of accurate and complete information about the situation in the IT market segment. For the assessment of IT specialties and their ranking by the degree of demand in the labor market, the tasks of making individual and group decisions in the context of fuzzy initial information are formulated and solved. The methodological basis of the tasks posed is multi-criteria decision support methods based on fuzzy relations of expert preferences.The proposed approach as a mathematical tool for minimizing the structural imbalance of supply and demand for IT specialties is one of the components of the system of intellectual management of the labor market of IT specialists. The latter is designed to support the adoption of scientifically based management decisions to eliminate the mismatch of supply and demand in the IT segment of the labor market in professional, quantitative and qualitative sections

Effect of crop choice on split fertilizer application

Farm Management,

PRODUCTIVITY AND LAND ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: HEALTH, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, AND SEQUENTIAL ADOPTION

The adoption of more efficient farming practices and technologies that enhance agricultural productivity and improve environmental sustainability is instrumental for achieving economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research examines the interaction between public investments, community health, and adoption of productivity and land enhancing technologies by households in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray. Agricultural technology adoption decisions are modeled as a sequential process where the timing of choices can matter. We find that time spent sick and opportunity costs of caring for sick family members are significant factors in adoption. Sickness, through its impact on household income and labor allocation decisions for healthcare and other activities, significantly reduces the likelihood of technology adoption. Our findings suggest that agencies working to improve agricultural productivity and land resource conservation should consider not only the financial status of potential adopters, but also their related health situation.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Innovation attributes and managers' decisions about the adoption of innovations in organizations: A meta-analytical review

The adop­tion of in­no­va­tions has emerged as a dom­i­nant re­search topic in the man­age­ment of in­no­va­tion in or­ga­ni­za­tions, al­though in­ves­ti­ga­tions of­ten yield mixed re­sults. To help man­agers and re­searchers im­prove their ef­fec­tive­ness, the au­thors em­ployed a meta-analy­sis in­te­grated with struc­tural equa­tion mod­el­ing to an­a­lyze the as­so­ci­a­tions be­tween the at­trib­utes of in­no­va­tions, man­agers' be­hav­ioral pref­er­ences, and or­ga­ni­za­tions' in­no­va­tion adop­tion de­ci­sions in a me­di­ated-mod­er­ated frame­work. Our find­ings of­fer ev­i­dence that at­trib­utes of in­no­va­tions in­flu­ence man­agers' be­hav­ioral pref­er­ences and, con­se­quently, adop­tion de­ci­sions in or­ga­ni­za­tions. We also ob­serve the sig­nif­i­cance of the con­text in which the adop­tion de­ci­sion oc­curs as well as the re­search set­tings em­ployed by schol­ars. Fi­nally, we dis­cuss the the­o­ret­i­cal con­tri­bu­tion and prac­ti­cal im­pli­ca­tions of our meta-an­a­lyt­i­cal re­sults

E.T. and innovation - science fiction or reality? An assessment of the impact of emissions trading on innovation

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Effective knowledge transfer to SMEs

EIM examined to what extent small and medium-sized enterprises may be stimulated to absorb more know-how in respect of for instance new process technology to use that know-how for in-company business process upgrading. The study focuses primarily on the cluster of businesses hardly involved in technological innovation, and examines to what degree knowledge about marketing and know-how management is employed to stimulate the absorption of know-how among retarded businesses.