Miroslava Rajcaniova

Bioenergy and global land-use change

This is the first article that econometrically estimates the global land-use change impact of bioenergy. Applying time-series analytical mechanisms to fuel, biofuel and agricultural commodity prices and production, we estimate the long-run relationship between energy prices, bioenergy production and the global land-use change. Our results suggest that rising energy prices and bioenergy production significantly contribute to the global land-use change both through the direct and indirect land-use change impact. Globally, the total agricultural area yearly increases by 35 578.1 thousand ha due to increasing oil price, and by 12 125.1 thousand ha due to increasing biofuel production, which corresponds to 0.73% and 0.25% of the total worldwide agricultural area, respectively. Soya land-use change and wheat land-use change have the highest elasticities with respect to both oil price and biofuel production. In contrast, nonbiomass crops (grassland and rice) have negative land-use change elasticities. Region-specific results suggest that South America faces the largest yearly total land-use change associated with oil price increase (+10 600.7 thousand ha), whereas Asia (+8918.6 thousand ha), South America (+4024.9 thousand ha) and North America (+1311.5 thousand ha) have the largest yearly total land-use change associated with increase in biofuel production.

Status quo bias of agrarian land structures in rural Albania

This article provides a micro-analysis of land market development after two decades of Albanian transition. We use data from a survey conducted in four Albanian villages during May 2013. The results indicate that land markets are highly rigid with almost no structural changes occurring over the last two decades. Sale markets are almost non-existent owing to formal and informal regulations and prevalence of subsistence farming in rural Albania. The status quo established by the 1991 land reform determines the present ownership structure. Rental markets are more sizable but, owing to property rights insecurity and monitoring problems of absentee landowners, the vast majority of rental arrangements are between family relatives.

The impact of agricultural and trade policies on price transmission: The case of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

abstract This paper examines the extent and speed of price transmission from international to local markets in two transition economies, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The two countries have similar economic backgrounds, but a notable difference is that Tajikistan has adopted a more liberal agricultural trade regime than Uzbekistan. We use a vector error correction model to analyse how global agricultural prices are transmitted to domestic food prices in the two countries. We find strong cointegration between world market and domestic prices in Tajikistan for food crops but not meat, and no cointegration in Uzbekistan.

Price transmission along the food supply chain in Slovakia

This article examines the price relationship along the food supply chain in Slovakia. We analyse a long-run relationship between farm and retail level in the vertical chain of milk, beef, pork, chicken, potatoes and apples. A cointegration approach is used to study the long-run relationship. We test for the existence of a structural break in the time series data (Gregory Hansen test) in the period observed and allow for the existence of a non-linear relationship between prices at various levels of the vertical chain by using threshold autoregressive models. We find evidence of asymmetry in price transmission along the food supply chain.

International Policies on Bioenergy and Biofuels

This chapter provides an overview of international biofuel polices and their main impacts on food prices and land use. Global biofuel production has experienced a rapid growth by increasing from almost a zero level in 1970 to 29 billion gallons in 2011; the United States, the European Union, and Brazil account for around 90 % of the global biofuel production. Biofuel policies are widely implemented in most developed and many developing countries. Most commonly used biofuel policy instruments are biofuel mandates and consumption subsidies (tax credit and tax exemptions). These policies determine biofuel prices, depending on which instrument is binding. Biofuels may also have unintended effects on other markets. In particular, interlinkages between biofuel and agricultural productions lead to food price responses and land use adjustments.