What drives rural out-migration? Insights from Kosovo

Drawing on household, network and relative deprivation models of migration, this paper empirically tests the probability to migrate utilising data for agricultural households in Kosovo (circa 13,500 observations). We identify the determinants of the propensity to migrate and length of migration in the previous year, considering gender related differences. The results reveal the significance of household / personal characteristics, farm characteristics, and network effects on the propensity to migrate and length of migration in the previous year. However, we find no significant effect of relative deprivation on the propensity to migrate and length of migration. While education has a strong, positive effect on migration by women, this is not the case for men. Unprofitability and a lack of inputs, manpower and equipment, causing farmland to be left uncultivated, also stimulate out-migration

Employment effects of CAP payments in the UK non-farm economy

This paper investigates the effect of the CAP payments on the indirectly generated non-farm jobs and whether there are differences in the effect according to business location - rural or urban - and according to CAP measures, in particular Pillar 1 and Pillar 2. A microeconomic approach is employed, based on company data from FAME dataset combined with detailed subsidies data from DEFRA. The focus is on employment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are central for job creation. The generalised method of moments (GMM) is used to estimate the effect of CAP payments on both the level and growth of employment. The results suggest positive net spillovers of CAP payments to non-farm employment. Although the magnitude of the effect is small, it is economically significant. Relative to Pillar 2, Pillar 1 payments have a stronger positive effect. As expected, the non-farm employment effect is particularly important for rural SME

The influence of nitrate on microbial processes in oil industry production waters

Sulfide accumulation due to bacterial sulfate reduction is responsible for a number of serious problems in the oil industry. Among the strategies to control the activity of sulfate -reducing bacteria ( SRB ) is the use of nitrate, which can exhibit a variety of effects. We investigated the relevance of this approach to souring oil fields in Oklahoma and Alberta in which water flooding is used to enhance oil recovery. SRB and nitrate -reducing bacteria ( NRB ) were enumerated in produced waters from both oil fields. In the Oklahoma field, the rates of sulfate reduction ranged from 0.05 to 0.16 M S day À 1 at the wellheads, and an order of magnitude higher at the oil -water separator. Sulfide production was greatest in the water storage tanks in the Alberta field. Microbial counts alone did not accurately reflect the potential for microbial activities. The majority of the sulfide production appeared to occur after the oil was pumped aboveground, rather than in the reservoir. Laboratory experiments showed that adding 5 and 10 mM nitrate to produced waters from the Oklahoma and Alberta oil fields, respectively, decreased the sulfide content to negligible levels and increased the numbers of NRB. This work suggests that sulfate reduction control measures can be concentrated on aboveground facilities, which will decrease the amount of sulfide reinjected into reservoirs during the disposal of oil field production waters

The impact of farm input subsidies on maize marketing in Malawi

This paper investigates the effects of subsidised fertilizer on marketing of maize in Malawi. It uses the nationally representative two-wave Integrated Household Panel Survey (IHPS) data of 2010 and 2013. The results suggest that subsidised fertilizer on average increases farmers’ maize market participation as sellers, total quantity of maize sold, and maize commercialisation. In addition, participation in subsidised fertilizer programme is found to increase the probability of farmers to be net sellers and increases net quantity of maize sold. However, the study finds no evidence of effect on net quantity of maize bought and on household maize self-sufficiency. These results suggest that the farm input subsidy programme has contributed toward an increased level of maize market supply engagement for small farmers and in this sense, the policy has the potential to provide the wider external benefits. Furthermore, the results have implication on the sustainability of the subsidy programme, policy formulation and design of programmes for the agricultural sector and small farmers in developing countries. JEL Classification: Q1; Q13; Q1

Comparative efficiency of family and corporate farms: does family labour matter

This paper examines the comparative efficiency of family vs corporate farms. It decomposes efficiency into two distinct sources - management capabilities and organisational differences. We find evidence for organisational efficiency gains from family farming, relative to corporate farming and these appear to increase with family involvement. With regard to the management capabilities however, family farms do not compare so favourably. Furthermore family involvement does not seem to have any systematic effect on the management capabilities derived efficiency. The findings indicate that further investigation of the way family farms employ and build management capabilities is needed to substantiate any ‘superiority’ claims

One size does not fit all: an empirical investigation of the Romanian agriculture production function

There are issues when researchers want to consider homogeneous, with regard to some functional relationship, groups. For example, in representative farm modelling analysts are interested in specifying groups of farms that have the same input/output relationship. This paper proposes to use the underlying functional relationship to derive such groupings. The paper employs finite regression mixture models to specify and estimate farm groups with regard to pre-specified functional relationship. The proposed approach is illustrated with regard to the aggregate production function of Romanian agriculture. The results point out to two farm clusters. The first one is more productive with a better use of capital and intermediate consumption. The second one makes a better use of land and labour. The calculated Shannon index shows that the second cluster is characterised by a higher level of land use diversity. The implications of the derived structure are discussed in light of two sets of policy – a production oriented and environment oriented one