Low population density and large distance from civilization centers generate high costs of isolation. Immigration reduces these costs for veteran residents but reduces social and cultural cohesion, increases the demand for scarce resources and affects the rate of urban unemployment. An expected net benefit maximization model for determining the optimal population size and the equilibrium urban-...

Government agricultural programs have a variety of goals, among them is preserving the family farm (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2003, pp. 18–20). While no single program is dedicated to maintaining a certain type of farm structure, program features are sometimes designed so as not to disadvantage family farms. For example, dollar limits may be placed on payments that a single person can rece...

This paper examines what factor determines demand of firms for contract farming, and how the market condition affects their demand. 208 pork processing firms in Jilin and Henan Provinces in China faced a severe price competition, and failed to differentiate their products that allow them to raise selling prices. Under this market condition, few firms have demands for employing contract farming....

This study provides a cost-benefit analysis of the flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) systems installed at the Mae Moh power station in northern Thailand. A ‘before and after’ study focused on the impact this air pollution cleanup technology had on human health in the area surrounding the power plant. Impacts on local agricultural and forest productivity are also assessed. The setup and operational...

International Food Policy Research Institute discussion papers contain preliminary materials and research results and are circulated prior to a full peer review in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. It is expected that most discussion papers will eventually be published in some other form, and their content may be revised. ABSTRACT Public-private partnerships offer potentially ...

Location and climate have large effects on income levels and income growth through their effects on transport costs, disease burdens, and agricultural productivity, among other channels. Geography also seems to affect economic policy choices. Many geographic regions that have not been conducive to modern economic growth have high population densities and are experiencing rapid increases in popu...

in this research, industrial wastewater treatment plants (iwwtps) were investigated and categorized by effluent applications and electrical energy cost. for the purpose of this research, 51 plants were assessed and results indicate that 17 plants discharged the effluent directly to the surface water that most of them are located in north of iran, 24 plants used the effluent for irrigation. othe...

Agro-meteorological index insurance can transfer the risks in the agricultural production, reduce the farmers' economic losses, and promote a sustainable development of agricultural production. However, traditional agricultural insurance with a single rate has the problems of the presence of adverse selection, the difficulty of determining premium rates and assessing the claims. As a new agricu...

The opportunities and constraints facing Ethiopian agriculture are strongly influenced by geographical location. Ethiopia’s diverse landscape defines certain agricultural production potentials, access to input and output markets, and local population densities, which determine both labor availability and local demand for food. Understanding the geographical expression of Ethiopia’s agricultural...

Along with greatly shaking up the confidence in producers and distributors, the problems, such as BSE and avian influenza, which are threatening the safety of agricultural products occurring one after another, have suddenly increased our the awareness of “food safety” as consumers. On the other hand, even though Japanese agriculture is facing internal and external problems such as the depressio...