a column by Nina Boberg-Fazlic and Paul Sharp for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Can immigration point systems identify desirable immigrants?
This column investigates the lessons of 19th-century migration from then-poor Denmark to the US. By 1890, Denmark had developed into a world-leading dairy producer. It finds that areas in the US with many Danes before the transformation of Danish agriculture benefited from significant knowledge transfers thereafter, and specialised in high-tech dairying. This provides a cautionary tale for those arguing that desirable migrants can be identified ex ante.
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Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Friday, 13 September 2019
Friday, 25 January 2019
May innovation on plant varieties share agricultural land with nature, or spare land for it?
an article by Simon Bordenave (AgroParisTech, INRA, Paris, France) published in International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology Volume 14 Number 3 (2018)
Abstract
The development of more productive varieties has been at the core of the transformations of agriculture and its environmental impacts throughout the 20th century. Among the various environmental effects of agriculture, the ability to choose between wide, low-intensity agriculture, and concentrated, high-intensity one, is a crucial component of its impact on biodiversity conservation.
The impact of an innovation on land use and intensity of agriculture is thus an important determinant of its environmental footprint. The existing literature has studied how innovation modifies land use, but has not focused on how it changes production intensity.
The objective of this paper is to complement the existing analytical framework to account for the impact of varieties improvements on non-land inputs. It shows that innovation can simultaneously reduce land use and increase agricultural intensity only if it is biased towards one of these production factors, demand is elastic and production factors are hardly substitutable.
Abstract
The development of more productive varieties has been at the core of the transformations of agriculture and its environmental impacts throughout the 20th century. Among the various environmental effects of agriculture, the ability to choose between wide, low-intensity agriculture, and concentrated, high-intensity one, is a crucial component of its impact on biodiversity conservation.
The impact of an innovation on land use and intensity of agriculture is thus an important determinant of its environmental footprint. The existing literature has studied how innovation modifies land use, but has not focused on how it changes production intensity.
The objective of this paper is to complement the existing analytical framework to account for the impact of varieties improvements on non-land inputs. It shows that innovation can simultaneously reduce land use and increase agricultural intensity only if it is biased towards one of these production factors, demand is elastic and production factors are hardly substitutable.
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Human capital and the supply of agricultural workers
a column by Tommaso Porzio for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The share of the population employed in agriculture across the globe declined steeply over the second half of the 20th century. This coincided with an unprecedented increase in average years of schooling.
This column explores whether these two trends are related.
The results lend support to the idea that increased schooling led more workers to sort out of agricultural work. Whether reallocation out of agriculture has been beneficial for growth, however, remains to be seen.
The share of the population employed in agriculture across the globe declined steeply over the second half of the 20th century. This coincided with an unprecedented increase in average years of schooling.
This column explores whether these two trends are related.
The results lend support to the idea that increased schooling led more workers to sort out of agricultural work. Whether reallocation out of agriculture has been beneficial for growth, however, remains to be seen.
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Robots poised to revolutionise agriculture
an article by Robert Bogue (Consultant, Okehampton, UK)
published in Industrial Robot: An International Journal Volume 43 Issue 5 (2016)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of a number of recent and significant agricultural robot research and development activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction, this first provides a brief overview of agricultural robot research. It then discusses a number of specific activities involving robots for precision weed control and fertiliser application. A selection of harvesting robots and allied technological developments is then considered and is followed by concluding comments.
Findings
Agricultural robots are the topic of an extensive research and development effort. Several autonomous robots aimed at precision weed control and fertiliser application have reached the pre-production stage. Equally, harvesting robots are at an advanced stage of development. Both classes exploit state-of-the-art machine vision and image processing technologies which are the topic of a major research effort. These developments will contribute to the forecasted rapid growth in the agricultural robot markets during the next decade.
Originality/value
Robots are expected to play a significant role in meeting the ever increasing demand for food, and this paper provides details of some recent agricultural robot research and development activities.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of a number of recent and significant agricultural robot research and development activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction, this first provides a brief overview of agricultural robot research. It then discusses a number of specific activities involving robots for precision weed control and fertiliser application. A selection of harvesting robots and allied technological developments is then considered and is followed by concluding comments.
Findings
Agricultural robots are the topic of an extensive research and development effort. Several autonomous robots aimed at precision weed control and fertiliser application have reached the pre-production stage. Equally, harvesting robots are at an advanced stage of development. Both classes exploit state-of-the-art machine vision and image processing technologies which are the topic of a major research effort. These developments will contribute to the forecasted rapid growth in the agricultural robot markets during the next decade.
Originality/value
Robots are expected to play a significant role in meeting the ever increasing demand for food, and this paper provides details of some recent agricultural robot research and development activities.
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