A Total Factor Productivity Index for Scottish Agriculture 1973-2004

Thirtle et al (2003) have provided a Total Factor Productivity (TFP) index for UK agriculture. This note follows a similar methodology to construct a TFP index for Scottish agriculture beginning in 1973 and ending in 2004. Essentially, Scottish agricultural growth grew strongly during the 1970s but then fell to negative levels over the period 1984-2004. In comparison to the UK Index, Scotland has performed poorly and is only showing signs of a positive recovery from 2000 onwards.Productivity Analysis,

Technical Efficiency Estimates of Scottish Agriculture: Evidence from the dairy, sheep and cereals sector

Technical efficiency, the ratio of physical inputs to outputs, is a popular means of assessing agricultural performance. Benchmarking of these efficiencies is a fundamental tool for the farming industry. More sophisticated techniques have been developed recently which offer a greater degree of complexity for measuring technical efficiency. This paper adopts a parametric approach, referred to as stochastic production frontiers (SPF), to study three major sectors the Scottish agricultural economy, namely i) cereals, ii) dairy, and iii) sheep, over the period 1989 to 2004.Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

A Total Social Factor Productivity Index for the UK Food Chain Post-Farm Gate

The UK post-farm gate food chain comprises manufacturing, wholesaling , retailing and catering. Current turnover is around £250 billion per annum. Total factor productivity measures the ratio of inputs to outputs. However, most studies have only included the marketable inputs and outputs within the system. Following criticisms of the negative effects of the food chain this paper adopts a n index based approach to measuring Total Social Factor Productivity, which includes the major externalities within the food chain. Generally, whilst TFP growth rates are low over the period 1998-2002, these have reduced even further when negative externalities are included.Food Chain, Total Factor Productivity, Total Social Factor Productivity, Externalities, Industrial Organization, Productivity Analysis, Q56,

A Metafrontier Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Selected European Agricultures

Farm Management,

Community environment, cognitive impairment and dementia in later life: results from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study

Background: Few studies have investigated the impact of the community environment, as distinct from area deprivation, on cognition in later life. This study explores cross-sectional associations between cognitive impairment and dementia and environmental features at the community level in older people. Method: The postcodes of the 2424 participants in the year-10 interview of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study in England were mapped into small area level geographical units (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) and linked to environmental data in government statistics. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted to investigate associations between cognitive impairment (defined as MMSE3 in GMS-AGECAT) and community level measurements including area deprivation, natural environment, land use mix and crime. Sensitivity analyses tested the impact of people moving residence within the last two years. Results: Higher levels of area deprivation and crime were not significantly associated with cognitive impairment and dementia after accounting for individual level factors. Living in areas with high land use mix was significantly associated with a nearly 60% reduced odds of dementia (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.8) after adjusting for individual level factors and area deprivation, but there was no linear trend for cognitive impairment. Increased odds of dementia (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.2) and cognitive impairment (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.0) were found in the highest quartile of natural environment availability. Findings were robust to exclusion of the recently relocated. Conclusion: Features of land use have complex associations with cognitive impairment and dementia. Further investigations should focus on environmental influences on cognition to inform health and social policies

Marginal abatement cost curves for UK agriculture, forestry, land-use and land-use change sector out to 2022

Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, land use, land use change and forestry (ALULUCF) are a significant percentage of UK industrial emissions. The UK Government is committed to ambitious targets for reducing emissions and all significant industrial sources are coming under increasing scrutiny. The task of allocating shares of future reductions falls to the newly appointed Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which needs to consider efficient mitigation potential across a range of sectors. Marginal abatement cost curves are derived for a range of mitigation measures in the agriculture and forestry sectors over a range of adoption scenarios and for the years 2012, 2017 and 2022. The results indicate that in 2022 around 6.36 MtCO2e could be abated at negative or zero cost. Further, in same year over 17% of agricultural GHG emissions (7.85MtCO2e) could be abated at a cost of less than the 2022 Shadow Price of Carbon (£34tCO2e).Environmental Economics and Policy,

Policy Implications of a Behavioural Economics Analysis of Land Use Determinants in Rural Scotland

The paper analyses the land use behaviour of Scottish land managers and the factors influencing it in the current context of the EU rural land use policies. The analysis employs a frequently used behavioural economics method, namely structural equation modelling (SEM). Central to the empirical analysis in this paper is a cross-section database containing data collected in May to June 2009 through telephone interviews of 600 land managers in Scotland. The model tests and estimates the relationships between land use behaviour, i.e., behavioural intentions to change the size of business/holding, and several of its a priori determinants found significant in the scientific literature. The results indicate that a stronger propensity to change size of their businesses is exhibited by younger land managers who intend to pass their land on to family, with larger land size and stronger attitudes towards increasing it, with lower percentage of their income made up from Government support, who are less likely to have perceived changes in regulation and input/output prices as having an impact on their business, who discuss and plan changes in size of business with their banks/building societies, and frequently access sources of information to help with their strategic decisions.Land use, rural policies, Scotland, structural equation modelling, Land Economics/Use,