This paper proposes and applies an innovative estimation approach for farm group programming models using Generalised Maximum Entropy. The proposed set-up simultaneously determines calibrating cost function parameters and input allocations to production activities. The methodology is applied to...

This research examines the effect of risk and time preferences on forest management responses to forest tenure land reforms in Fujian, China that began in 2002. The different extent of the reform and its different timing across regions provide a natural experiment to test how time and risk...

2010 AAEA Presidential Address; forthcoming in January 2011 AJAE in shortened version.

Generated crop insurance rates depend critically on the distributional assumptions of the underlying crop yield loss model. Using farm level corn yield data from 1972-2008, we revisit the problem of examining in-sample goodness-of-fit measures across a set of flexible parametric,...

The inclusion of cover crops in cropping systems brings both direct and indirect costs and benefits. The literature has shown that cover crops can improve soil conservation and productivity, potentially improving cash crop yields and decreasing cash crop production costs. Farmers will adopt...

Abstract Bromus Tectorum is an invasive plant species known to reduce abundance of native perennial grasses, increase fire frequency and intensity, decrease animal performance, and alter microbial communities and ecosystem processes. Specifically, in the Intermountain West, Bromus has been...

Migration is considered a pathway out of poverty for many rural households in developing countries. National policies can discourage households from exploiting external employment opportunities through the distortion of capital markets. Studies in China show that the presence of state and...

For mixed cereal-livestock farmers, cereal production provides a bundle of goods. Grain is consumed by the household or sold at market, and crop residues are used as livestock feed. The straw component of crop residue can be bought and sold at market and therefore has a well-established local...

Reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has been identified as a cost effective element of the post-Kyoto strategy to achieve long-term climate objectives. The success of REDD depends primarily on the design and implementation of a financial mechanism that...