International Trade and Conservation with Costly Natural Resource Management

We propose a model where the benevolent resource planner's management is endogenous. This allows for the analysis of trade models with management régimes other than the polar open access and 1st best régimes. Interestingly, 2nd best, endogenous, management régimes are more realistic than the textbook 1st best policy prescription. In a very simple model where current gains do not depend on the resource stock, and where resource management incurs a fixed cost, we have disproved, some statements made by the WTO. Indeed, in our 2nd best setting, free trade with "proper" management of resources can lead to welfare losses. It can also cause the extinction of a species and therefore hinder the environment. Further research is underway with more general assumptions. We expect that our results regarding WTO statements and questions will be mitigated, but they should still hold true under some conditions. We know that trade can be welfare increasing and it can help the environment. However, knowing when it does not and why can be helpful for policy-making. This is what we attempt to figure out in this paper.

The Impact of El Niño on Northeastern Forests: A Case Study on Maple Syrup Production

El Niño events are likely to affect maple syrup production since it is very sensitive to weather events. A statistically significant direct correlation has not been found in our preliminary analysis, however. This may be because many other factors affect production and because weather anomalies also occur in non-El Niño years. Few defensive activities are available to maple syrup producers to alleviate the negative impacts of weather anomalies on their production. Hence, the value of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forecasts to them is likely to be low, even if a clear correlation between productivity and ENSO events was eventually found. Overall, small welfare impacts of El Niño weather events are expected from their impact on the maple syrup industry, even if a correction is found. This is mainly because the share of maple syrup production in the economy is very small. Also, only a portion of the exploitable trees is under production and hence some excess capacity exists. Furthermore, maple syrup has numerous substitutes (albeit imperfect) as sources of sugar and luxury food items; the impact on consumer welfare is hence likely to be small. The most unique feature of maple syrup production includes cultural and amenity values provided by the springtime sugaring off parties; this appears as the least substitutable characteristic of the maple syrup industry. Indeed, few forest-based activities exist at the time of maple sap harvest. In all likelihood, even if the development of the industry is slowed down because of ENSO events, this springtime ritual will remain as it does not involve great investment like the larger, more sophisticated activities do. The welfare impact, through the lack of substitute, would be greater if this tradition were to disappear altogether.

The Impact of Mad Cow Disease in Quebec: What to Do with Animal Carcasses?

In recent years, after the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) crisis in Europe, and after the first case of BSE was found in Alberta, both regulation and producers’ initiatives have lead to an ever smaller demand for meat meal and animal fat used in animal feed. Meat meal and animal fat were produced in great part from the rendering of carcasses, i.e., animals that died on the farm due to disease or accident. In Quebec, agricultural producers used to sell the carcasses to rendering plants. Now however, demand for meat meal and animal fat has all but disappeared, so producers must instead pay the rendering plants to dispose of the carcasses. The financial burden gives producers an incentive to get rid of the carcasses in less costly ways, not only by legal burial at the farm, but also by illegal disposal at the farm or elsewhere in nature (Deglise, 2003; Radio-Canada, 2003; Larivière, 2003a; Mercier, 2004). This leads to increasing environmental risks, specifically, soil, water and air pollution as well as potential health hazards, that need to be addressed.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Ethanol and Biodiesel in Canada: Can They Help Meet Canada's Kyoto Commitment?

The Canadian government ratified the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002. The protocol calls for greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 6 percent below the 1990 level (approximately 35 percent below what they are expected to be in a business-as-usual situation) by 2008–2012. To help meet this target, both federal and provincial governments in Canada have developed programs (in some cases mandates) for ethanol and biodiesel production and use in fuel blends. Various subsidy schemes have been designed to stimulate development of a biofuels industry in Canada. While the programs have been promoted on the basis of environmental concerns, a major driver has been the search for new markets for Canadian agricultural commodities that face chronically depressed prices. The purposes of this article are to review the current state of policies, programs and production of ethanol and biodiesel in Canada and to assess the prospect of these biofuels to significantly reduce production of greenhouse gases in Canada.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Costly Renewable Resource Management and International Trade

Renewable resource management is necessary to avoid the dissipation of inter-temporal rents due to open access exploitation. In reality management is costly, which implies that the first best solution is not appropriate. Management costs must be considered explicitly in optimization problems, to find the appropriate second best solutions. This is the focus of this dissertation, which contains applied theoretical analyses of dynamic bio-economic models, where moving away from open access exploitation of a renewable resource is costly. Partial equilibrium problems of harvesting a scarce renewable resource are analyzed, where economic incentives of poachers, who are punished if caught, are included. Harvest, enforcement and resource price are endogenously determined. The punishment increases poachers' expected marginal costs and the resource market price, which forces at least some poachers out of the market. Different relative harvest cost structures are considered between social planner and poachers, which drives the manner in which the market supply is optimally shared between them. Corrective policies are given for a pseudo-monopolist seeking to maximize his discounted profit instead of total economic surplus. Further policy adjustments are characterized, in case the resource entails nonmarket values. A two-good, two-variable-factor bio-economic trade model is also developed for a small country. Open access, first and second best resource management models are analyzed, assuming that instantaneous gains are independent of the resource stock and that resource management incurs a flow of instantaneous fixed cost. The most empirically realistic model allows for resource management regime switches, which is influenced by the trade regime and the world price of the resource good. Different cases are characterized in relation to changes in welfare and conservation, following a move from autarky to free trade. Free trade is unambiguously beneficial in some cases, but not always. Specifically, if open access is the second best management regime in autarky, then a small comparative advantage in the resource good could be detrimental to the home country. There exists a greater comparative advantage in the resource good, above which free trade would be beneficial. Understanding what drives the empirically relevant detrimental consequences of free trade can be helpful for policy-making

Economic incentives for the conservation of biodiversity with multiple decision-makers

This thesis investigates the incentives for the conservation of biodiversity with multiple decision-makers by comparing the market equilibrium solution to the social optimum under different assumptions. Geographic land areas are modeled to permit two conflicting uses: conservation of biodiversity or conversion of the land for some economic activity. Two main models are developed The first model makes use of a downward-sloping demand curve for biodiversity. This demand can represent the partial or total economic value of biodiversily, or more tangibly, the harvest demand for a given rare species. The market equilibrium will provide less of the species than would be socially optimal because of the oligopolistic structure of the supply side of the market. The second model assumes a "blueprint" demand function for biodiversity where species are seen as genetic and chemical "lead" or "blueprint" resources for industrial use. In the static model, rent can be obtained only f a unique landowner possesses the species of value, otherwise the demanding industry will bid the price down until no rent is captured In this case, the market equilibrium of conservation is socially optimal. In a dynamic model, however, this result is not obtained The multiple stage model reveals a dynamic externality. Further modeling and comparison with real world data are needed to appreciate the importance of this divergence of results. The problem of imperfect substitute species is investigated, and too much conservation can occur in the "blueprint" case from society's point of view

Monitoring and evaluation design of Malawi's Right Foods at the Right Time nutrition program

Abstract Child stunting is a public health problem in Malawi. In 2014, the Government of Malawi launched the Right Foods at the Right Time (RFRT) program in Ntchisi district delivering nutrition social and behavior change communication, a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement to children 6–23 months, and nutrition sensitive activities. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems are key aspects of successful program implementation. We describe these and the methodology for an impact evaluation that was conducted for this program. Two monitoring systems using traditional and electronic platforms were established to register and track program delivery and processes including number of eligible beneficiaries, worker performance, program participation, and to monitor input, output, and outcome indicators. The impact evaluation used comparative cross-sectional and longitudinal designs to assess impact on anthropometric and infant and young child feeding outcomes. Three cross-sectional surveys (base-, mid-, and end-line) and two longitudinal cohorts of children followed in 6-month intervals from 6 to 24 months of age, were conducted in sampled households in the program and a neighboring comparison district. Additional M&E included qualitative studies, a process evaluation, and a cost-effectiveness study. The current paper describes lessons from this program's M&E, and demonstrates how multiple implementation research activities can inform course-correction and program scale-up

Mechanical Activation of a Multimeric Adhesive Protein Through Domain Conformational Change

The mechanical force-induced activation of the adhesive protein von Willebrand factor (VWF), which experiences high hydrodynamic forces, is essential in initiating platelet adhesion. The importance of the mechanical force-induced functional change is manifested in the multimeric VWF's crucial role in blood coagulation, when high fluid shear stress activates plasma VWF (PVWF) multimers to bind platelets. Here, we showed that a pathological level of high shear stress exposure of PVWF multimers results in domain conformational changes, and the subsequent shifts in the unfolding force allow us to use force as a marker to track the dynamic states of the multimeric VWF. We found that shear-activated PVWF multimers are more resistant to mechanical unfolding than nonsheared PVWF multimers, as indicated in the higher peak unfolding force. These results provide insight into the mechanism of shear-induced activation of PVWF multimers