Promoting Organic Food: Information Policy Versus Production Subsidy

In developed countries governments aim to increase the market share of organic products. Assuming that organic farming creates a positive externality, we address the question of how this environmental benefit can be internalized best. Using the concept of heterogeneous producers and consumers we compare two policy options to enhance organic supply and demand with respect to their efficiency and distributional effect: First, we analyze the effect of a supply-side oriented policy like a subsidy on organic production. Second, we compare this policy measure to a demand-side oriented information policy, which aims to enhance the acceptance and identification of an organic food label. Third, we assume a mix of both policy measures. The main findings of this paper are that conventional consumers and organic producers and consumers experience a gain in welfare. The efficiency of any policy measure considered strongly depends on the utility enhancement experienced by organic consumers due to an information policy and the costs of transferring the information to the consumer.organic food, labeling, production subsidy, information policy, welfare, Agricultural and Food Policy, D61, D62, L15, Q18,

PROMOTING ORGANIC FOOD: INFORMATION POLICY VERSUS PRODUCTION SUBSIDY

Governments in developed countries aim to increase the market share of organic products as a possibility to improve the environment or animal welfare or as a reaction to food crises and changing consumer preferences. Assuming that organic farming creates a positive externality, we address the question of how this environmental benefit can be internalized best. We use the concepts of heterogeneous producers with different unit production costs and heterogeneous consumers with different preferences for conventional and organic food, and compare two policy options to enhance organic supply and demand with respect to their efficiency and distributional effect: Firstly, we analyze the effect of a supply-side oriented policy like a subsidy on organic production on equilibrium prices and quantities, and producer and consumer welfare. Secondly, we compare this policy measure with a demand-side oriented information policy, which aims to enhance the acceptance and identification of an organic label. The main findings of this paper are that in either case, producers and consumers of conventional food are worse off, organic producers and consumers experience a gain in welfare, but the change in welfare is identical under the two policy options.Marketing,

Probing the QCD Vacuum with Static Sources in Maximal Abelian Projection

Various field strength correlators are investigated in the maximal Abelian projection of pure SU(2) lattice gauge theory. High precision measurements of the colour fields, monopole currents, their curls and divergences allow for detailed checks of the dual superconductor scenario. On this basis, we perform a Ginzburg-Landau type analysis of the flux tube profile from which we derive the size of the penetration length, LAMBDA = 0.16(2) fm, and coherence length of the monopole condensate wave function, XI = 0.27(3) fm. The ratio of these numbers is KAPPA = LAMBDA/XI = 0.59(13) which is below the value 1/SQRT(2) where type II superconductivity sets in.Comment: 15 pages, latex, 8 figures, Talk presented by K. Schilling YKIS97, Kyot

Spatial Competition of Milk Processing Cooperatives in Northern Germany

In this paper we develop a theoretical model of competition among marketing cooperatives (co-ops) in a spatial market setting assuming uniform delivered pricing and Loschian conduct. The model is an extension to Alvarez et al.'s (2000) spatial competition model for investorowned firms (IOF). Theoretical results include i) that the prices for raw milk are, ceteris paribus, higher in a pure market of coops than in a pure IOF market; ii) that even coops may imperfectly transmit price changes upstream; and iii) that the price farmers receive for their raw product is a function of economic space (distance times transportation costs) between coops. We test our theoretical findings for milk processing co-ops in Northern Germany using data of monthly average farm-gate prices for raw milk between 1999 and 2003 and estimating a reduced form regression model. Empirical results confirm our theoretical findings to a great extent.spatial competition, oligopsony, milk processing, cooperatives, Agribusiness, L13, Q13,

Carbon taxes and general joint implementation: an applied general equilibrium analysis for Germany and India

Germany has committed itself to reducing its carbon emissions by 25 percent in 2005 as compared to 1990 emission levels. To achieve this goal, the government has recently launched an environmental tax reform which entails a continuous increase in energy taxes in conjunction with a revenue-neutral cut in non-wage labor costs. This policy is supposed to yield a double dividend, reducing both, the problem of global warming and high unemployment rates. In addition to domestic actions, international treaties on climate protection allow for the supplementary use of flexible instruments to exploit cheaper emission reduction possibilities elsewhere. One concrete option for Germany would be to enter joint implementation with developing countries such as India where Germany pays emission reduction abroad rather than meeting its reduction target solely by domestic action. In this paper, we investigate whether an environmental tax reform cum joint implementation (JI) provides employment and overall efficiency gains as compared to an environmental tax reform stand-alone (ETR). We address this question in the framework of a large-scale general equilibrium model for Germany and India where Germany may undertake joint implementation with the Indian electricity sector. Our main finding is that joint implementation offsets adverse effects of carbon emission constraints on the German economy. JI significantly lowers the level of carbon taxes and thus reduces the total costs of abatement as well as negative effects on labor demand. In addition, JI triggers direct investment demand for energy efficient power plants produced in Germany. This provides positive employment effects and additional income for Germany. For India, joint implementation equips its electricity industry with scarce capital goods leading to a more efficient power production with lower electricity prices for the economy and substantial welfare gains. --environmental tax reform,joint implementation,productivity gaps,energy efficiency improvement,computable general equilibrium modeling

Using an InGrid Detector to Search for Solar Chameleons with CAST

We report on the construction, operation experience, and preliminary background measurements of an InGrid detector, i.e. a MicroMegas detector with CMOS pixel readout. The detector was mounted in the focal plane of the Abrixas X-Ray telescope at the CAST experiment at CERN. The detector is sensitive to soft X-Rays in a broad energy range (0.3--10 keV) and thus enables the search for solar chameleons. Smooth detector operation during CAST data taking in autumn 2014 has been achieved. Preliminary analysis of background data indicates a background rate of $1-5\times 10^{-5}\,\mathrm{keV}^{-1}\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ above 2 keV and $\sim 3\times 10^{-4}\,\mathrm{keV}^{-1}\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ around 1 keV. An expected limit of $\beta_\gamma \lesssim 5\times 10^{10}$ on the chameleon photon coupling is estimated in case of absence of an excess in solar tracking data. We also discuss the prospects for future operation of the detector.Comment: Contributed to the 11th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Zaragoza, June 22 to 26, 201