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Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Improving the Impact of Market Reform on Agricultural Productivity in Africa: How Institutional Design Makes a Difference

Improving the Impact of Market Reform on Agricultural Productivity in Africa: How Institutional Design Makes a Difference Abstract: This paper reviews the emerging empirical record of agricultural marketing policy reform and agricultural productivity, drawing from research on food access and agricultural productivity supported by USAID’s Africa Bureau on seven countries in West, Eastern, and Southern Africa. We also examine key factors constraining past and future performance of the food systems in these countries. The paper concludes by identifying a set of policy issues for further consideration that would help provide the investment incentives to promote productivity growth for the millions of low-input semi-subsistence rural households in the region.food security, food policy, market reform, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Downloads June 2008 - July 2009: 40, Q13,

Insured? Good! Designing a Blockchain-based Credit Default Insurance System for DeFi Lending Protocols

The rising popularity of blockchain has cleared the path for developing numerous decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. However, insurance solutions for DeFi applications are still missing. Therefore, this article presents a smart contract-based P2P credit default insurance solution using the Design Science Research Method. The design presents an approach to decentralize insurance systems by reducing the number of intermediaries. The evaluation of the artifact shows that blockchain and smart contracts can provide financial inclusion, reduce costs and automate processes in insurance processes

Books Received

A List of Books Received by the Michigan Law Revie

Effects of Cash Crop Production on Food Crop Productivity in Zimbabwe: Synergies or Trade-offs?

This paper studies the dynamics between cash cropping and food crop productivity in Gokwe North District in Zimbabwe, a major cotton producing area. The main research issues were: (1) to identify the determinants of commercialized crop production at the household level; and (2) to determine the effect of increasing crop commercialization on household food productivity. The paper derives a household crop commercialization index, defined as the ratio of crop sales to total crop production. Econometric models were developed for identifying the determinants of household-level commercialization and for measuring its effects on food crop productivity.food security, food policy, cash crop production, food crop productivity, Zimbabwe, Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, Downloads June 2008 - July 2009: 62, Q18,

Books Received

A List of Books Received by the Michigan Law Revie

Biomethane Yield from Different European Phragmites australis Genotypes, Compared with Other Herbaceous Wetland Species Grown at Different Fertilization Regimes

Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia and Arundo donax are tall wetland graminoids with the potential to replace fossil fuels under sustainable cultivation conditions. We investigated the biomethane (CH4) production of these four species, including four different genotypes of P. australis, which represent the high intraspecific diversity of European reed. All plants were grown under three different macronutrient supplies (no nutrients added, an equivalent of 75 kg N ha−1 year−1 added and an equivalent of 500 kg N ha−1 year−1 added). Biomethane production was measured in four independent batch digestion tests. Across all experiments, fertilization regime had little effect on CH4 yield, which was on average 222 ± 31 L kg−1 volatile solids (VS). The lowest yield was produced by T. angustifolia (140 L kgVS−1) receiving no nutrients, while the highest yield was produced by A. donax (305 L kgVS−1) in the highest nutrient treatment. The intraspecific diversity of P. australis did not affect biomethane production. All P. australis genotypes produced on average 226 ± 19 L CH4 kgVS−1, which, although high, was still lower than conventional biogas species. The biomass production of P. australis was less increased by fertilization than that of Typha sp. and A. donax, but all species had similar biomass without fertilization

Contracting Sequentially with Multiple Lenders

We study a capital market in which multiple lenders sequentially attempt at financing a single borrower under moral hazard. We show that restricting lenders to post take-it-or-leave-it offers involves a severe loss of generality: none of the equilibrium outcomes arising in this scenario survives if lenders offer menus of contracts. This result challenges the approach followed in standard models of multiple lending. From a theoretical perspective, we offer new insights on equilibrium robustness in sequential common agency games