Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy最新文献

We examine the history of US land policy, with a focus on the Homestead Acts, underscoring the precarious position of African Americans during the homesteading period. We discuss the historical context and the shifting political landscape of the Civil War and Reconstruction era, providing the context for research on federal land policies and problems of race. Past research is almost entirely outside of the agricultural and applied economics profession. We believe that the applied economics discipline is especially suited for empirically examining the influence of federal land policies on past and present disparities and racial makeup of American agriculture.

This paper examines the effects of dollar store entry on independent grocery retailers in the United States between 2000 and 2019. We utilized an establishment-level dataset comprising all grocery retailers and dollar stores in the country. Our findings indicate that dollar store entry is associated with a 5.7% decrease in sales, a 3.7% reduction in employment, and a 2.3% rise in the likelihood of independent grocery retailers quitting the business. These adverse entry effects are three times larger in rural than urban areas. Event studies indicate that the negative impact on sales and employment disappears gradually in urban areas but persists in rural communities. We document differences in treatment effects of dollar store entry across regions, retail formats, and time.

This paper evaluates the impact of the Commodity Container Assistance Program on containerized agricultural exports from US ports. The program responded to logistical disruptions related to agricultural shipments from the ports of Oakland, Seattle, and Tacoma. Relying on counterfactual event study methods and detailed trade data, we find limited evidence of positive treatment effects after the program implementation. The average post-event trade effect is 1.0%, leading to limited agricultural export gains of about $18.6 million per month between March and September 2022. These findings suggest that while the program was cost-effective, it had limited success in facilitating US containerized agricultural exports.

USDA farm support programs have an established history of racial discrimination. Today, the Federal Crop Insurance Program is among the largest and most important programs available to U.S. farmers. Previous research has documented systematic misrating of crop insurance premiums with sizable welfare implications. In this paper, we explore whether producer race measured at the county level has explanatory power in a model of crop insurance misrating. We find that in some cases it does, raising concerns about the possibilities of racially discriminatory impacts of the RMA's rate-setting methodology. Further research is needed to isolate the mechanisms that explain our findings.

We estimate pollution's causal effect on fatal traffic accidents using instrumental variables. Using variation in fine particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less (PM_2.5) because of air temperature inversions and eastward wind, we find that of PM_2.5 positively affects fatal traffic accidents. Fatalities increase on average by 1.3% when PM_2.5 increases by 1 $��\mu �$ g/m³. This increase corresponds to 67 more yearly fatalities in California on average. The positive effects we estimate are consistent with mechanisms such as cognitive function due to pollution inhalation. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this mechanism is worsened for non-rural and for lower-income counties while it is mitigated by driver risk aversion during poor air quality days.

The origin of inequality between social identity groups is anchored in acts of violent dispossession of freedom and property by the group seeking the advantages of dominance. The beginning of contemporary disparities in income and especially wealth between Black and White Americans follow the same pattern. Of particular significance is the racialized character of U.S. land distribution policies in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Numerous structural vulnerabilities put developing regions at a disadvantage as they confront the prospect of increasingly frequent extreme shocks. Typical of these regions, South Asia had several characteristics that suggested it would be badly hit by COVID-19: a sizeable informal sector, growing inequalities in access to health services and social protection, and high levels of hunger and malnutrition. This Special Issue focuses on the South Asian experience through COVID-19 and distills forward-looking lessons for the developing world. Included papers point to the importance of strengthening individual resilience, building basic infrastructure and institutional capacity, and implementing inclusive social protection measures.

Globally, over 400 million tons of biomass are burned in agricultural fires for management purposes each year, substantially affecting air quality (Korontzi et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2006; 20; Yevich & Logan, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2003; 17). Rangel and Vogl (Review of Economics and Statistics 2019; 101:616–630) provide evidence that agricultural fires in Brazil cause large declines in newborn health in downwind communities. We replicate this analysis and evaluate the sensitivity of their results to changes in the dataset and alternative modeling choices. Although accounting for the potential of spatial correlation in errors reduces precision of estimated effects, we find that their primary conclusions are robust to alternative specifications and reasonable placebo tests. We discuss how our findings may guide future research on the relationship between agricultural fires and health.

Ensuring the sustainability of small farms relies on understanding farm economics, a crucial yet often overlooked aspect. In North Carolina, many small farms are confronted with financial challenges and the risk of collapse. This study examines the factors that influence farm profitability while considering the intersectionality of race and gender. The findings reveal significant disparities in farm and operator characteristics. Specifically, first-generation and retiree farmers exhibit a lower likelihood of profitability. Conversely, factors positively associated with profitability include owning larger farm acreage, engaging in commercial agricultural production, utilizing paid family labor, practicing full-time farming, and being a non-White minority farmer. To foster the sustainability of small farms, it is imperative to implement policies that support full-time farming and incentivize the use of paid family labor. These measures can contribute to bolstering profitability and safeguarding the economic viability of small farms.

This paper explores the effects of a public policy that reduces by 50% the use of mineral nitrogen in European agriculture. Our results show that, for the European Union, halving mineral fertilizer use leads to: a decrease in agricultural production, a substantial increase in nitrogen use efficiency, lower use of organic fertilizer and a loss of agricultural competitiveness. At the global level, it leads to greater nitrogen consumption if no measure is taken on the demand side. Ultimately, our research highlights the critical importance of supply side adjustments, particularly in terms of cropland area expansion.