Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics-Revue Canadienne D Agroeconomie最新文献

Canadian agricultural trade has experienced several volatile periods over the past 15 years. The Great Recession (2007–2009), the 2015–2016 global trade slowdown, unilateral policy actions by the United States against key trade allies and the multilateral system more generally, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are among the most significant events during this period. Given the close integration of Canadian and US agricultural markets, the recent US election is likely to again impact the relative competitiveness of Canadian agricultural exports. While many observers suggest President-elect Joe Biden will return to normal times regarding multilateral cooperation with key allies and international institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the new administration is likely to face headwinds given the significant fraying of ties with key trading partners and allies due to disruptive actions taken by his predecessor. This article provides an overview of potential implications of a Biden administration for Canada's agricultural trade. We start by reviewing recent trade shock events affecting Canada's agricultural trade with a particular focus on trade actions taken by the United States. Relevant components of the President-elect Biden's platform, considerations affecting the implementation of this platform, and the implications of this for Canadian agricultural trade are considered.

Global aquaculture markets have experienced a great deal of recent success. However, growers are still highly susceptible to risks caused by seasonality, interannual variability in earnings, and environmental factors. As a result, we see growers turning to alternative sources of income, and participating in off-farm labor. We utilize a series of zero-inflated count models to examine the relationship between an aquaculture grower's off-farm labor decision and relevant explanatory variables including demand-side potency, which is often omitted in the literature. We also look to identify and analyze the importance of professional social networks among growers as a stabilizing mechanism and a way to mitigate risk to growers. This study expands upon an economic model that has traditionally been used for analyzing off-farm labor choices within an agricultural context and applies it to an increasingly important industry, aquaculture.

A well-functioning trade relationship between Canada and the United States is crucial to the economic vitality of the Canadian agri-food industry. However, agri-food trade is more susceptible than other sectors to political interventions. The Trump presidency has strained Canada–US relations and his trade policy actions have significantly increased trade restrictions and trade policy uncertainty and undermined the rules-based global trading system. We examine the pattern of agri-food trade between the two countries and find that the upward trajectory of bilateral agri-food trade ended in 2013. Although this flatlining predates the Trump administration, we show that Trump increased trade policy uncertainty starting in 2017 and likely impacted further expansion of trade. We examine what might change under the Biden presidency and argue that the new administration is likely to restore strong relationships with allies and work to rebuild important international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although protectionist forces will continue to impact bilateral agri-food trade, we expect closer political ties between a Biden administration and the Canadian Prime Minister. This should have a positive effect on the Canadian agri-food industry by reducing trade uncertainties, thereby increasing agri-food trade between Canada and the United States.

During the Trump administration, there has been an unprecedented increase in the level of domestic support provided to US agricultural producers. Direct farm supports, including price and income support payments, federal crop insurance, and supplemental assistance to compensate losses due to the trade war with China and the pandemic, have accounted for more than one-third of net farm income. Those payments have threatened to push the United States over its World Trade Organization (WTO) domestic support obligations and increased its vulnerability to potential dispute settlement challenges in the WTO. The incoming Biden administration will likely bring a new focus to repurpose farm subsidies to provide environmental benefits, such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, but to achieve those reforms they will need to convince a US Congress that has historically been prone to maintaining the status quo.

The 4 years of the Trump administration was marked by a number of events and policies that affected the Canadian agrifood sector. Changes to preferential trade agreements, the collapse of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement framework, increased domestic support for US farmers, and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China all shaped international trade flows and created an environment of policy uncertainty. The Biden administration will change course on several important trade policy issues. We discuss how these changes could affect the Canadian agrifood sector along a number of dimensions, including a return to multilateralism, (re)engagement in preferential trade agreements, and movements toward a less combative and more predictable trade policy agenda. We expect Canadian agrifood trade flows under the Biden administration to exceed what they would have been under a second Trump administration.

Contract farming can be an effective measure to deal with agricultural production risks. This study provides a two-stage stochastic programming model to analyze farmers’ cooperation in the context of contract farming under uncertainty. It provides a fair cost allocation policy for a coalition of farmers using a stochastic linear duality approach. A fair cost allocation implies that no subset of farmers has an incentive to leave the coalition. Thus, a fair allocation policy ensures the stability of a coalition. Meanwhile, the risk pooling game is shown to have population monotonicity, which means that, every time a coalition adds a new member, each farmer within the coalition will incur a smaller cost. Hence, the population monotonicity gives an incentive for coalition expansion. Our results not only provide a simple way to design fair cost allocation policies for collaboration strategies in contract farming, but also play an important role in the sustainable development of farmers’ coalitions.

The Canadian agricultural economics profession, like much of society, is faced with the important challenge of how to effectively achieve aspirational goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). I argue that the Canadian agricultural economics society (CAES) will benefit from integrating EDI into our core mission and key activities. I focus on a select set of issues that I believe will further this effort. Given the critical role of scholarly merit and merit-based systems and processes in the CAES mandate and activities, I also explore how meritocracy and scholarly merit can be aligned with EDI principles. The paper concludes with suggestions and recommendations for consideration by the CAES.

This study examines preferences for local foods by two distinct consumer groups: local residents and tourists. In an incentive-compatible framed field experiment, a series of dichotomous-choice tasks involving oyster purchases were completed by 758 individuals: 341 local residents recruited at a Division of Motor Vehicles office and 417 tourists recruited at a beach ferry terminal. The experimental design allowed us to investigate differences in preferences between tourists and local residents for locally produced oysters. Our estimates suggest both locals and tourists are willing to pay more for local oysters than for nonlocal ones, though this result is only statistically significant among tourists. The findings from this study shed light on potential designs for labels of food products, particularly when marketed in popular tourism areas.

This study examines consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for organic wheat products exhibiting single labels, as well as multiple labels, including organic. The additional labels considered are related to the organic label (non-genetically modified organism [non-GMO]) or perceived as health-promoting (gluten-free, low-carb, sugar-free). Study data were collected using a consumer survey conducted online in 2017 across 16 U.S. western states and analyzed using random parameter logit models. Findings show that organic-labeled wheat products with additional claims were valued equally or less than the organic only version. Overall, consumer higher objective and subjective knowledge of organic standards, as well as preferences for gluten-free products, increased their WTP for organic wheat products. Consumers unfamiliar with organic standards valued the non-GMO label over the organic label. Additionally, consumer WTP for health-related claims on hedonistic products was low or even negative. Hence, multiple labels on organic products generally provide no additional consumer benefit and are likely ignored. Study findings suggest that using the claim that most distinguishes the product, or is most salient, may improve product pricing. Also, non-GMO certification rather than organic certification should be considered for some markets. Finally, consumers with preferences for gluten-free products represent a potential market for organic wheat products.