Agri-environmental schemes (AES) have had a limited effect on European agriculture due to farmer’s reluctance to participate in them. Information on the role that AES design can have on encouraging farmers to participate can be an important input into the design of such policies. This paper...

Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, new forests planted on/after 1st January 1990 can earn carbon credits. These credits have to be repaid upon forest harvest. This paper analyses the effects of this carbon scheme on the valuation of bareland, on which radiata pine is to be planted....

In arid countries worldwide, social conflicts between irrigation-based human development and the conservation of aquatic ecosystems are widespread and attract many public debates. This research focuses on the analysis of water and agricultural policies aimed to conserve groundwater resources and...

This paper investigates the effects of network based individual social capital on the access of rural households to services. In the context of development economics, an innovative data collection approach is used to determine network based social capital. The approach originates from the field...

The agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan and Germany are at different development levels. One possible explanation for this might be the different investment behavior of farmers. We experimentally analyze whether the investment behavior of farmers is consistent with the normative benchmarks of the...

Transgenic pest-resistant varieties are hypothesized to reduce farmers’ demand for on-farm diversity through an act of substitution, as both serve as production risk reducing instruments. This adverse agro-biodiversity impact of technology adoption might be partially counteracted by an...

There is growing concern about the impact of climate change on agriculture and the potential need for better risk management instruments that respond to a more risky environment. This is based on the widespread assumption that climate change will increase weather and yield variability and will...