Viet-Ngu Hoang

Assessing the eco-environmental performance of agricultural production in OECD countries: the use of nitrogen flows and balance

Nitrogen balance is increasingly used as an indicator of the environmental performance of agricultural sector in national, international, and global contexts. There are three main methods of accounting the national nitrogen balance: farm gate, soil surface, and soil system. Some studies have provided the comparison among these methods and the conclusion is mixed. The present paper combines these three methods to provide a more detailed auditing of the nitrogen flows and balance. The proposed combination gives more useful information than the individual methods do, especially for the use of nitrogen flows and balance in international comparison of environmental performance. The study investigated the nitrogen flows and balance of OECD countries for years from 1985 to 2003 and used different indicators to assess relative environmental performance of these countries. Some important findings emerge from the empirical exercise. First, on the whole OECD countries had decreased their nitrogen surplus by around 10% between 1990 and 2003. Secondly, OECD nitrogen surplus intensity was still higher than the world level. Thirdly, the environmental performance in the crop sector was better than the livestock sector. Fourthly, the performance varied greatly among member countries and these differences were correlated with many factors such as the use of land and domestic support. Fifthly, the rankings varied depending on the indicators used.

Smallholder farmers’ participation in climate change adaptation programmes: understanding preferences in Nepal

ABSTRACT Globally, adaptation policies and programmes are being formulated to address climate change issues. However, in the agricultural sector, and particularly in least developed countries (LDCs), concerns remain as to whether these policies and programmes are consistent with farmers’ preferences. This study empirically investigates Nepalese farmers’ willingness to support the implementation of adaptation programmes. To this end, we first developed suggested adaptation programmes in accordance with the adaptation measures identified by LDCs in their National Adaptation Programmes of Actions. We then employed a choice experiment framework to estimate farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for adaptation benefits. The findings indicate that the substantial benefits of the adaptation programmes for farmers result in a sizeable WTP to participate, which would appear to justify the programmes’ widespread implementation. Key policy insights Farmers are willing to participate in, and contribute to, the suggested adaptation programmes in the form of increased access to climate adaptive crop species and varieties, improved soil quality and irrigation and the provision of training in climate adaptive farming. Key socio-economic factors influence farmers’ support of adaptation programmes. Older farmers, those households closer to government extension services, larger land holders, those involved in household labour exchange, farmers located in drought and flood-prone regions and those who perceive that the climate has changed are more likely to participate. The more farmers are aware of climate change impacts, the greater their preference for adaptation programmes. Increasing farmer awareness prior to implementation of such programmes is therefore an obvious means of further raising participation rates.

Impact of community-based organizations on climate change adaptation in agriculture: empirical evidence from Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of community-based organizations (CBOs) on the adoption of agricultural adaptations to climate change impacts. To this end, we first analyze farmers’ perceptions on changes in local climatic condition, its impact and adaptations on agriculture based on information collected through a questionnaire survey of 720 farming households in six districts of Nepal. The findings reveal a widespread feeling of weather getting warmer, decreasing precipitation, and increasing weather unpredictability. It is found that climate change has adversely affected agriculture in Nepal, and farmers have adopted various adaptation practices to minimize the impacts. Second, we employ propensity score matching technique to examine the impact of CBOs on climate change adaptation. About 62% of the sampled farming households were associated with CBOs, and several socioeconomic factors influence such association. This study provides evidence supporting the argument that CBOs play important role in reducing the negative impacts of climate change by enhancing the adoption of adaptation strategies. It is also evident from the study the need of further strengthening and institutionalizing the informal farmers’ groups and institutions for the successful adaptation.

The effects of linguistic factors on student performance on economics multiple choice questions

This paper proposes a framework to analyse performance on multiple choice questions with the focus on linguistic factors. Item Response Theory (IRT) is deployed to estimate ability and question difficulty levels. A logistic regression model is used to detect Differential Item Functioning questions. Probit models testify relationships between performance and linguistic factors controlling the effects of question construction and students’ background. Empirical results have important implications. The lexical density of stems affects performance. The use of non-Economics specialised vocabulary has differing impacts on the performance of students with different language backgrounds. The IRT-based ability and difficulty help explain performance variations.

Influence of payment modes on farmers’ contribution to climate change adaptation: understanding differences using a choice experiment in Nepal

Adaptation has become a key priority in dealing with climate change issues. However, successful implementation of climate change adaptation entails substantial financial investment. This study examines differences in Nepalese farming households’ willingness to contribute to the implementation of adaptation programs across monetary and non-monetary modes of payments. To this end, we undertake discrete choice experiments with monetary payment and labor contributions as the payment vehicles. We find that farmers are interested in participating in and financially supporting the implementation of climate change adaptation initiatives that increase the availability of climate-adaptive crop varieties, improve soil quality, expand irrigation and build farmers’ capacity in terms of climate-adaptive farming. Factors influencing farmers’ participation in adaptation programs include age, income, access to extension services, size of land holdings, number of farm parcels, climate change perception and climate change experience. Furthermore, the findings reveal significant heterogeneity in the farmers’ preferences across three agro-ecological regions in Nepal. Our findings also strengthen the methodological validity of the results of the choice experiment, which indicated that farmers are willing to pay significantly more when asked to make a payment in terms of a labor contribution compared to a monetary payment for the implementation of adaptation programs. Overall, the findings of this study justify the relevance of implementing agricultural adaptation programs in Nepal.

Climate change adaptation strategies and food productivity in Nepal: a counterfactual analysis

It is widely accepted that climate change is having significant effects on global agriculture. However, the precise impacts depend to a large degree on the nature of adaptations which take place. But, little is known about whether adaptation practices adopted by farmers in less-developed countries support farm productivity. To this end, this study first identifies the actual adaptation practices adopted by farming households. This is done by linking farmers’ perception of changes in local climatic conditions, its impact on agricultural production, and the adjustments they have made in response to climate change impacts. Simultaneous equation models are then employed together with the endogenous switching regression methodology to examine the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt different climate change adaptation strategies. How the adoption of these strategies impact food productivity is also examined. Based on a survey of 720 farming households in Nepal, our results show that adoption of adaptation strategies has significantly increased food productivity. Among the adaptation strategies, soil and water management are shown to have the largest impact on food productivity followed by adjustments to the timing of farm operations and crop and varietal adjustment. Factors influencing adoption of adaptation strategies include age and education of the household head (the decision-maker of adaptation strategies), family size, households’ distance to market, farmers’ association with agricultural-related institutions, number of farm plots under cultivation, past climate change experience, access to climate information, belief in climate change, and attitudes towards adaptation. The findings of this study provide insights into designing agricultural adaptation strategies and integrating them in climate change programs and policies.

Autonomous adaptations to climate change and rice productivity: a case study of the Tanahun district, Nepal

ABSTRACT A key issue arising from farmers’ climate change adaptation practices in agriculture is whether autonomous adaptations improve crop production and productivity. A comparison of crop productivity between farms employing autonomous adaptations and those not adopting provides an empirical means of resolving this question. This study assesses the climate change adaptation practices used by rice farmers in the Tanahun district of Nepal, their impact on rice productivity, and the factors that affect farmers’ decisions to adopt adaptation practices. Adaptation practices used by rice farmers include adjustment in timing of farm operations, selection of varieties, crop rotation, improved irrigation, and fertilizer management. Rice productivity was found to be significantly higher among adopting farmers compared to non-adopting farmers. The findings further suggest that age of the household head, family size, migration of family members outside their village, number of plots under rice cultivation, land holding, and farmers’ access to information on climate change all influence farmers’ adaptation decisions. This study provides empirical evidence indicating the need for policy makers to take into consideration autonomous adaptations when designing planned adaptations against likely impacts of climate change.

Stunting and academic achievement among Vietnamese children: new evidence from the young lives survey

ABSTRACT Most of the empirical literature on the relationship between the health condition and skill development of school children are based on a static relationship between health and skill development. This article contributes to the literature by examining the dynamic relationship between stunting and school achievement using data from the first three waves of the Young Lives Survey in Vietnam. Using both structural equation and hybrid estimators, empirical results show that past school performance is the most significant predictor of the academic performance. Stunting has a significant negative effect on school performance, and its effect in the long run is as twice as much its effect in the short run. The empirical evidence also shows that the age of the child, mothers’ literacy, access to electricity and household consumption significantly affect school performance.

Accounting for nutrient pollution in measuring agricultural total factor productivity: a study of OECD economies: Counting the Environment and Natural Resources

This chapter proposes environmental efficiency measures for agricultural production where nitrogen and phosphorus effluents and greenhouse gas emissions are notable environmental stresses. These environmental efficiency measures are based on the principle of materials balance and are used to construct environmental Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) indices. The chapter illustrates one application using panel data from 32 OECD economies covering 17 years from 1992 to 2008.

THE DYNAMIC INTER-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA

This paper proposes a new empirical model for examining the relationship between obesity and school performance using the simultaneous equation modelling approach. The lagged effects of both learning and health outcomes were included to capture both the dynamic and inter-relational aspects of the relationship between obesity and school performance. The empirical application of this study used comprehensive data from the first five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which commenced in 2004 (wave 1) and was repeated every two years until 2018. The study sample included 10,000 children, equally divided between two cohorts (infants and children) across Australia. The empirical results show that past learning and obesity status are strongly associated with most indicators of school outcomes, including reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy national tests, and scores from the internationally standardized Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Matrix Reasoning Test. The main findings of this study are robust due to the choice of obesity indicator and estimation methods.