Resource Economics

Land-use change has a significant impact on the world's ecosystems. Changes in the extent and composition of forests, grasslands, wetlands and other ecosystems have large impacts on the provision of ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation and returns to landowners. While the change in private returns to landowners due to land-use change can often be measured, changes in the supply and value of ecosystem services and the provision of biodiversity conservation have been harder to quantify. In this paper we use a spatially explicit integrated modeling tool (InVEST) to quantify the changes in ecosystem services, habitat for biodiversity, and returns to landowners from land-use change in Minnesota from 1992 to 2001. We evaluate the impact of actual land-use change and a suite of alternative land-use change scenarios. We find a lack of concordance in the ranking of baseline and alternative land-use scenarios in terms of generation of private returns to landowners and net social benefits (private returns plus ecosystem service value). Returns to landowners are highest in a scenario with large-scale agricultural expansion. This scenario, however, generated the lowest net social benefits across all scenarios considered because of large losses in stored carbon and negative impacts on water quality. Further, this scenario resulted in the largest decline in habitat quality for general terrestrial biodiversity and forest songbirds. Our results illustrate the importance of taking ecosystem services into account in land-use and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Exchange rate instability has been a defining feature of Nigeria's economy especially in relation to international competitiveness and domestic output. This paper examines the dynamic effects of exchange rate volatility on the performance of Nigeria's manufacturing sector, a key engine of industrialization and employment. Using annual data spanning 1970-2024 from the Central Bank of Nigeria, we employ a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and a Bivariate GARCH framework to capture both short-run dynamics and long-run volatility spillovers between exchange rates, price levels, and manufacturing output. The results indicate that exchange rate volatility exerts a significant and negative impact on manufacturing performance. In the long run, a 1 percent increase in volatility reduces manufacturing output by about 8.6 percent while short-run effects are immediate and also adverse. Volatility transmission analysis reveals that exchange rate shocks spill over to both manufacturing output and aggregate prices, suggesting that currency instability undermines industrial performance partly through inflationary pressures. These findings highlight the structural vulnerabilities of Nigeria's manufacturing sector and reinforce the importance of strong exchange rate management policies along with stable macroeconomic policies as the major tools for promoting manufacturing industrial growth. Strategies that prioritise domestic input sourcing can also aid in minimizing the negative impacts of exchange rate shocks in the long run. The paper concludes that restoring exchange rate stability and reducing dependence on imported inputs are critical to positioning the sector as a driver of sustainable economic diversification.

The United States and the European Union both employ export subsidies to stimulate wheat trade and to increase their competitiveness in world markets. The environmental consequences of these policies are being questioned. We stimulate reducing or removing export subsidies for wheat from the United States and the EU using a multicountry partial equilibrium model, and we analyze the impact of export subsidy policy reform on nitrogen fertilizer and other chemical use. Our findings indicate that the U.S. EEP program cannot be blamed for environmental degradation in terms of nitrate leaching, while EU wheat subsidies make only a small contribution to nitrate pollution.

Genetically modified organisms are expected to have a large impact on the ability of humanity to feed, fuel and heal itself in light of the growing global change, and adverse geo-climatic conditions anticipated as a result of climate change. GMOs have already demonstrated potential in enhancing food production, with additional benefits in quality of crops and environmental aspects. South Africa is one of the few developing countries that have joined an increasing number of countries that have commercialised GM crops. With South Africa being an early adopter of GM technology, the economic benefits for some of the crop technologies can be readily demonstrated, particularly in commercial crop production. Seventy five percent of agricultural output comes from the highly organised commercial sector, and small scale farmers contribute the rest. Malnutrition and food insecurity remain an issue in this seemingly prosperous economy. In this paper we examine the progress made in the adoption ...

In consideration of the high adolescent fertility rate in Nigeria, the growth effect of this phenomenon is investigated using annual time series data that span the period from 1981 to 2016. Alternative estimation techniques including the ARDL bounds test approach to co-integration and error correction, FMOLS and CCR are employed for the analysis. Results from the analysis indicate that adolescent fertility negatively affects economic growth in Nigeria in the short- and long-run. This suggests that adolescent fertility in Nigeria has serious implications for economic growth as it adversely affects it. The study therefore recommends efforts by the government to address the high adolescent fertility rate in the country. Specific actions steps include prioritizing girl-child education, incorporating sex education in high (or secondary) school curriculum, formulating laws to stop early marriages, and job creation to engage and economically empower parents or guardians of the adolescents ...

The purpose of this research is to study on customer satisfaction towards Satyam traders. The descriptive research method such as survey and questionnaire method was used to collect data. Non-probability and convenience sampling method was adopted with the sample size of 120 respondents. To analyze the customers and satisfaction towards it frequency analysis and chi-square tools were used. The study shows that the organization is essential for the organization to motivation their customers to satisfied with peanuts product for achieving the organizational goals and objectives.

Labeling something as property does not predetermine what rights an owner does or does not have in it." ). What Happened to Property? 359 however, such talk of a special category of rights related to things presumably illustrates the grip of conceptualism on the civilian mind and a slavish devotion to the gods of Roman law. Or does it? In related work, we have argued that, far from being a quaint aspect of the Roman or feudal past, the in rem character of property and its consequences are vital to an understanding of property as a legal and economic institution. 7 Because core property rights attach to persons only through the intermediary of some thing, they have an impersonality and generality that is absent from rights and privileges that attach to persons directly. When we encounter a thing that is marked in the conventional manner as being owned, we know that we are subject to certain negative duties of abstention with respect to that thing-not to enter upon it, not to use it, not to take it, etc. And we know all this without having any idea who the owner of the thing actually is. In effect, these universal duties are broadcast to the world from the thing itself. Because property rights create duties that attach to " everyone else," they provide a basis of security that permits people to develop resources and plan for the future. By the same token, however, this feature of property imposes an informational burden on large numbers of people, a burden that goes far beyond the need for nonparties to a contract to understand the rights and duties of contractual partners. As a consequence, property is required to come in standardized packages that the layperson can understand at low cost. This feature of property-that it comes in a fixed, mandatory menu of forms, in contrast to contracts that are far more customizable-constitutes a deep design principle of the law that is rarely articulated explicitly. The fact that the in rem aspect of property has largely disappeared from academic discourse has made this latent design principle all the easier to overlook. This Essay will trace the decline of the conception of property as a distinctive in rem right in Anglo-American thought, and the rise of the view among modern legal economists that property is simply a list of use rights in particular resources. As is the case with law and economics more generally, this view of property finds its roots in Ronald Coase's seminal article, The Problem of Social Cost. 8 Coase implied that property has no relative rights); Jürgen Kohler, The Law of Rights In Rem, in INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN LAW 227, 230 (Werner F. Ebke & Matthew W. Finkin eds., 1996) (discussing in rem rights). On the Roman law background, see, for example, FRITZ SCHULTZ, CLASSICAL ROMAN LAW 32-34, 334-35, 456 (1951). Schultz notes that Roman law did not have the modern distinction between rights in rem and in personam and that the Roman law distinction between actions in rem and in personam does not exactly correspond to actions that protect these types of rights. 7.

This paper explores the relationship between the reduction in income-poverty and government expenditure on growth strategies that have been implemented in Tanzania since the mid 2000s. The paper shows that despite impressive economic growth of about 6 percent per annum that the country has enjoyed in the course of implementing growth strategies over the past few years, poverty has declined marginally and remains pervasive in the rural sector. This paper argues that growth strategies in Tanzania have not helped to reduce income poverty significantly because government expenditures to finance such strategies have been allocated to investment in social services which reduce income poverty indirectly and as such, effects take time to be realized. This paper argues that rural income diversification coupled with substantial investment in agricultural sector remain paramount as a panacea to reducing income poverty; and improvement in the quality of life and social wellbeing.

Drichoutis, Lazaridis and Nayga / Consumers' Use of Nutritional Labels Type of household also has an effect on label use. Specifically, smaller households and households with young children are more likely to engage in nutrition information search behaviors. In addition, households in non-city or rural areas are more likely to use nutritional labels. Grocery shoppers but not meal planners are also more likely to engage in nutrition information search. Our review of the literature also suggests that consumers who attach importance to price usually are less likely to use labels but those who attach importance to nutrition are, as expected, more likely to search for nutritional information. Finally many studies have found that nutrition knowledge has a significant impact on nutritional label use. From a firm's point of view, provision of nutritional information on food packages is desirable if it can generate more revenues. In the context of effective private quality signalling, government regulation would be unnecessary if higher quality products had nutritional information on their packages and those with lower quality did not. However, if sellers cannot signal quality effectively, the market may disappear completely or only the lowest quality products may be sold. Mandatory labeling is called to fill the void of information provision mainly by correcting asymmetric information or by correcting externality problems. However, prescriptions such as "more information is always better" may not be an optimal policy for nutrition labeling. One cannot therefore unambiguously state that the benefits of new nutrition labeling rules will be greater than the costs, although there is some reason to believe that benefits may be greater than the costs. The U.S.' Nutritional Labeling and Educational Act (NLEA) that went into effect in 1994 can serve as a good reference point for mandatory labeling. Some authors have found no significant change in the average nutritional quality of food products offered for sale by manufacturers and retailers after the implementation of the NLEA, thus suggesting that the benefits from information provision might be more limited than previously thought. Other studies did not also detect any change in behavior of consumers with regard to nutritional information search both before and after the implementation of the NLEA. More recently, due to rising obesity rates, there has been debate on whether to require nutritional labeling in the Food Away From Home (FAFH) sector. However, some studies have found that provision of nutrition information has no effect on overall energy and fat intake from restaurants. Nutritional labels come in different formats. The format that consistently produces the most positive dietary benefits is the percentage declaration of the various nutrient amounts based on the daily values for each nutrient. Consumers tend to perform poorly with manipulation of quantitative nutrient information. Furthermore, the use of bold text, colored nutrition panels, and whole numbers instead of decimals and calories instead of joules (in a typical EU nutritional label, energy has to be expressed both in terms of calories and joules where 1 kcal=4,18 kjoules) are preferred by the majority of consumers. In general, it has been found that nutritional label use affects purchasing behavior mainly because consumers want to avoid the negative nutrients in food products. The effects can be even greater if labeling is combined with an information campaign to educate consumers. It appears that nutritional information affects purchasing behavior because it influences valuations and perceptions of the product. In that context, several surveys have studied the effect that claims create on personal evaluations. Health claims in the front of the package have been found to create favourable judgements about a product. For example, when a product features a health or nutrient content claim, consumers tend to view the product as healthier and are then more likely to purchase it, independent of their information search behavior. Other studies, however, have found that health claims have a weak effect on disease risk perceptions. Most importantly, one has to keep in mind that in the food choice process, there will always be a taste-nutrition trade off. Consumers may prefer the immediate gratification offered by a tasteful product rather than the

This study aims to gain insight into the psychological factors which influence willingness- to-pay for public health policies. By replicating Savage (1993) with a few key changes, this paper studies the impact of perceived risk characteristics on valuations of health policies mitigating risks with varying qualities, focusing on perceptions of controllability and voluntariness of risks. The study follows a detailed pre-registered plan for data collection and analysis, conducting a survey of 746 individuals on perceived risk characteristics of 4 different hazards and willingness-to-pay for health policies to mitigate them. The results of the pre-registered analysis confirm the hy- pothesis that individuals have a lower willingness-to-pay to mitigate risks considered to be more controllable. The results of an exploratory analysis show that self-interest is the largest single factor in determining willingness-to-pay and find that, of the risk characteristics included in the survey, perceptions of voluntariness and controllability exhibit the lowest level of consensus among the surveyed population. These results have implications for how to craft politically vi- able environmental policy and public health programs addressing substance dependency, namely the opioid epidemic in the United States. Results highlight the importance of informational campaigns informing individuals within a population about the characteristics of health risks the population faces as well as individuals’ personal exposure to these risks, in order to enable efficient policy.

Abstract: This paper examines the potential flashpoints for a third world war, focusing on geopolitical rivalries and resource competition in the Arctic and other strategic regions. The Arctic, increasingly accessible due to climate change-induced ice melt, has emerged as a critical arena for great power competition, with nations like the United States, Russia, China, and Arctic Council members vying for control over vast untapped resources, including oil, gas, and minerals, as well as new shipping routes. These developments exacerbate tensions, driven by overlapping territorial claims, military build-ups, and economic ambitions. Beyond the Arctic, other regions such as the South China Sea, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East serve as additional flashpoints due to historical rivalries, resource scarcity, and strategic interests. The paper analyzes how these factors, combined with emerging technologies like cyber warfare and artificial intelligence, could escalate regional disputes into global conflicts. It argues that while cooperation mechanisms like the Arctic Council and international law offer pathways to mitigate tensions, the absence of robust diplomacy and the rise of nationalism increase the risk of escalation. By exploring historical precedents and current trends, the paper underscores the urgent need for sustainable policies and international collaboration to prevent a catastrophic global war.

Prepared as task 1 of the project 'Modelling support for Future Actions -Benefits and Cost of Climate Change Policies and Measures'. ENV.C.2/2004/0088. 1 The marginal social cost is the damage from an additional tonne of CO 2 emitted. Specifically, it is the change in the net present value of the monetised impacts, normalised by the change in emissions. This should not be confused with the total impact of climate change or the average impact (the total divided by the total emissions of carbon). 2 This review was undertaken bv Richard Tol. The values include the original authors' use of discount rate and equity weighting. Note from his analysis, Tol concluded that marginal damage costs of carbon dioxide emissions were unlikely to exceed $50/tC (14 Euro/tCO 2 ). 3 We have converted from USD2000 to Euro2000 ($1 = €1.0) using purchasing power parity exchange rates from 2000. 4 These are the marginal abatement costs from post-Kyoto policies in 2020, and for Kyoto in 2012, as estimated by the ECCP. 5 Tom Downing, Cameron Hepburn, Chris Hope, and Paul Watkiss in work for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on the Social Cost of Carbon. ; the project final report will be available in April 2005. 6 The authors stress that there is no single value and that the range of uncertainty around any value depends on ethical as well as economic assumptions. These indicative values are based on a declining discount rate and include equity weighting.

Prepared as task 1 of the project 'Modelling support for Future Actions -Benefits and Cost of Climate Change Policies and Measures'. ENV.C.2/2004/0088. 1 The marginal social cost is the damage from an additional tonne of CO 2 emitted. Specifically, it is the change in the net present value of the monetised impacts, normalised by the change in emissions. This should not be confused with the total impact of climate change or the average impact (the total divided by the total emissions of carbon). 2 This review was undertaken bv Richard Tol. The values include the original authors' use of discount rate and equity weighting. Note from his analysis, Tol concluded that marginal damage costs of carbon dioxide emissions were unlikely to exceed $50/tC (14 Euro/tCO 2 ). 3 We have converted from USD2000 to Euro2000 ($1 = €1.0) using purchasing power parity exchange rates from 2000. 4 These are the marginal abatement costs from post-Kyoto policies in 2020, and for Kyoto in 2012, as estimated by the ECCP. 5 Tom Downing, Cameron Hepburn, Chris Hope, and Paul Watkiss in work for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on the Social Cost of Carbon. ; the project final report will be available in April 2005. 6 The authors stress that there is no single value and that the range of uncertainty around any value depends on ethical as well as economic assumptions. These indicative values are based on a declining discount rate and include equity weighting.

Gold has long stood as one of Africa's most treasured natural resources, playing a vital role in strengthening the continent's economies through employment generation, foreign exchange growth, and industrial development. Countries like Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Sudan are among Africa's top gold producers and exporters, contributing substantially to the continent's global presence in the gold trade. However, beyond just production, several internal and external factors influence how gold is exported. These include transport methods, gold form types, price variations, as well as international demand and logistical challenges that shape export trends. The primary aim of this study is to analyze Africa's gold export dynamics through an interactive Power BI dashboard, focusing on three key aspects. First, transportation methods, which are crucial for cost-efficiency and secure delivery, with air transport dominating by value due to its speed and reliability. Second, a yearly analysis to trace trends and identify correlations with external economic factors showing a significant surge post 2019 with a peak of 7,749 tonnes in 2022. Lastly, the form of gold exported, classified into Unwrought, Semi manufactured, and Powder form, reveals that semi manufactured gold leads in total trade value, while unwrought gold remains a common form across exporters. Collectively, these insights establish a comprehensive view of how African nations position themselves within the global gold trade ecosystem.

Gold has long stood as one of Africa's most treasured natural resources, playing a vital role in strengthening the continent's economies through employment generation, foreign exchange growth, and industrial development. Countries like Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Sudan are among Africa's top gold producers and exporters, contributing substantially to the continent's global presence in the gold trade. However, beyond just production, several internal and external factors influence how gold is exported. These include transport methods, gold form types, price variations, as well as international demand and logistical challenges that shape export trends. The primary aim of this study is to analyze Africa's gold export dynamics through an interactive Power BI dashboard, focusing on three key aspects. First, transportation methods, which are crucial for cost-efficiency and secure delivery, with air transport dominating by value due to its speed and reliability. Second, a yearly analysis to trace trends and identify correlations with external economic factors showing a significant surge post 2019 with a peak of 7,749 tonnes in 2022. Lastly, the form of gold exported, classified into Unwrought, Semi manufactured, and Powder form, reveals that semi manufactured gold leads in total trade value, while unwrought gold remains a common form across exporters. Collectively, these insights establish a comprehensive view of how African nations position themselves within the global gold trade ecosystem.

This study examines the relationship between employment outcomes and various factors affecting graduate and postgraduate students at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU) in Bangladesh. The research focuses on graduates from both the social science faculty and science faculty, investigating key variables including family income, family support, communication skills, pre-employment training, job experience, and academic performance. Using primary data collected from 150 respondents across the departments of Economics, Sociology, and Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE), the study employs descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis to evaluate employment determinants. The sample comprises 64.67% male and 35.33% female respondents, with departmental distribution of 47 from Economics, 65 from Sociology, and 38 from ETE. Notable findings reveal that 22.67% of respondents are employed, while 77.33% remain unemployed, with 50 participants being married. Through regression analysis, several variables demonstrated significant impact on employment prospects. Age, marital status, coaching, training, and academic performance in SSC, HSC, and Master's degree programs showed positive correlations with employment outcomes. Conversely, factors such as government job preference, honors performance, and distance from employment centers exhibited negative impacts on employment prospects. These findings provide valuable insights for educational institutions, policymakers, and students in understanding and addressing the employment challenges faced by graduates in Bangladesh's contemporary job market.

Since 2007, large and unexpected declines in generation costs for renewable energy systems, particularly solar but also wind, combined with policy measures designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions, have created a paradigm shift in energy systems. Variable renewable energy now dominates total investment in electricity power generation systems. This dominance of variable renewable energy in investment has thrust the systems integration task of matching electricity supply with demand to center stage, presenting new challenges for energy policy and planning as well as for the institutional organization of power systems. Despite these challenges, there is ample reason to believe that variable renewables will attain very high levels of penetration into energy systems, particularly in regions well endowed with solar and wind potential. Similar to their success with mobile phone telephony, many developing countries have a significant opportunity to leapfrog directly to more advanced energ...

1 This paper is the result of discussions from a workshop on Assessing the Role of Human and Natural Capital in Economic Production, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and held at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University, August 2-3, 1996. ...

The moorland or paramo is a threatened ecosystem. The indiscriminate advance of the agricultural frontier is producing the loss of ecosystem services, especially water service. This research estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) of the water users corresponding to the Municipality of Riobamba for the conservation of the water service in the Micro-basin of the Chimborazo River (MCRCH). Four hundred and six surveys were applied by means of the double limit dichotomous contingent valuation method, using a maximum likelihood model in the Stata software. Four models were developed: simple limit, simple limit with other explanatory variables, double limit, and double limit with other explanatory variables, the latter being statistically more significant. As a result, it was determined that the WTP is USD 0.84 per month to conserve the water service of the MCRCH, value that increases if the home ownership variable is included in USD 0.04. The problem of climate change increases in USD 0.24, while the variable level of education decreases the WTP by USD 0.04.

Knowledge has adopted a preferential role in the explanation of development while the evidence about the effect of natural resources in countries’ performance is more controversial in the economic literature. This paper tries to demonstrate that natural resources may positively affect growth in countries with a strong natural resources specialization pattern although the magnitude of these effects depend on the type of resources and on other aspects related to the production and innovation systems. The positive trajectory described by a set of national economies mainly specialized in natural resources and low-tech industries invites us to analyze what is the combination of factors that serves as engine for a sustainable development process. With panel data for the period 1996-2008 we estimate an applied growth model where both traditional factors and other more related to innovation and absorptive capabilities are taken into account. Our empirical findings show that according to the...

This study investigated the impact of governance indicators on economic performance in Nigeria. The study used time series data spanning the period from 1996 to 2021. The governance indicators were operationalised by using the World bank database on governance indicators. In order to address endogeneity problem, the study employed generalised method of moments (GMM) technique to analyse the data. The results indicate that overall average governance, government effectiveness and control of corruption exert positive impact on economic performance, but not significant. While voice and accountability, and political stability have positive and significant impact at 5% and 10% level, respectively. In contrast rule of law negatively impacted on economic performance at 5% level of significant, while regulatory quality is negative, but not significant.

Renewable energy sources have a critical role to play in contributing to the diversity, sustainability and security of energy supplies. The main objectives of the paper is to gain an understanding of UK households' preferences for the type of mechanism that is used to support renewables. Two self-designed contingent valuation method (CVM) surveys are used to explore whether the type of payment option has an impact on households' willingness to pay for increasing share of renewable energy in electricity generation. The paper also investigates whether the type of payment mode affects respondents' self-reported certainty of paying their stated valuations.The results indicate that the likelihood of paying a positive amount for supporting renewable energy is higher under a mandatory scheme compared to a voluntary payment option in the UK. Respondents have a higher level of certainty in paying their stated WTP under a mandatory payment scheme.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

While historians believe that preserving a historic building in its original location is important to maintain its historic integrity, the general public's opinion is unknown. Survey data were gathered from local residents regarding a proposed relocation of a historic mill in rural West Virginia. Only a minority of the sample population supported preserving the mill at its original location. Willingness to pay for preservation was estimated at $8.45 for a one-time donation for the sample and $2.29 after adjusting for non-respondents using characteristics of the local population.

Agricultural research has transformed agriculture and in doing so contributed to the transformation of economies. Economic issues arise because agricultural research is subject to various market failures, because the resulting innovations and technological changes have important economic consequences for net income and its distribution, and because the consequences are difficult to discern and attribute. Economists have developed models and measures of the economic consequences of agricultural R&D and related policies in contributions that relate to a very broad literature ranging across production economics, development economics, industrial organization, economic history, welfare economics, political economy, econometrics, and so on. A key general finding is that the social rate of return to investments in agricultural R&D has been generally high. Specific findings differ depending on methods and modeling assumptions, particularly assumptions concerning the research lag distributi...

This research investigates the transformative role of digital agri-tech startups in optimizing vegetable supply chains in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India, with an emphasis on improving agricultural productivity and farmer welfare. Despite a marked 45% decline in agri-tech sector investments between the financial years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, attributed to global interest rate hikes and economic uncertainties, startups such as WayCool, Farmers Fresh Zone and Farm again have demonstrated significant potential in enhancing supply chain efficiency and supporting farmer livelihoods through technological innovations. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study integrates both qualitative and quantitative data derived from surveys, field visits, and interviews. Key performance indicators analyzed include Price Spread, Marketing Efficiency, Cost-Benefit Ratio and Productivity. Advanced econometric tools, including logistic regression and propensity score matching, were used to assess the impact of technology adoption on farmers' outcomes. The results reveal that farmers utilizing digital platforms for crops such as onion and tomato achieved higher market prices, improved marketing efficiency and superior financial performance compared to those employing the conventional methods. Despite persisting challenges like resistance to technology adoption and inadequate internet connectivity, the findings emphasize the potential for substantial growth in the sector, driven by technological innovations. The study emphasizes the need to develop user friendly digital platforms, strengthen internet and technological infrastructure, and enhance government support through financial incentives and clear policy frameworks to encourage the broader use of agri-tech solutions. Overall, the research highlights the significant potential of digital agricultural technologies to improve farming practices, increase farmer earnings, and serve as a model that can be adapted to similar agricultural regions.

For a development project to be planned and implemented in any area it is essential that adequate information about the area is gathered for the success of the project to be feasible. Mwea Irrigation scheme is the largest in Kenya but rice yields have been declining over the years. One of the factors to sustained production is adopting sustainable agricultural practices. The objective of this research was to determine the influence of farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics on application of sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs) in rice farming in Mwea and the challenges the farmers face in applying SAPs. Cross sectional design, proportionate stratified sampling technique and questionnaire were used to select and collect data from 144 rice farmers. Statistical tools such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation and appropriate correlation coefficients were generated to describe or identify relationship among variables of the study. Results revealed that majority of r...

Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. -Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

This study explores the pivotal role of theories of economics in shaping the multifaceted concept of sustainable development and integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It traces the intellectual trajectory of classical, neoclassical, and contemporary economic paradigms, analysing their contributions to sustainability-oriented
policies and practices. The study critically analyses key concepts, including equitable income redistribution, resource stewardship, and ecological preservation. It contrasts liberal and dependency theories while also comparing insights from environmental and ecological
economics. Employing a rigorous literature review and comparative analytical methodology, the study bridges the theoretical foundations with real-world applications, illustrating the dynamic interplay between theories of economics and sustainability imperatives. The findings elucidate the dichotomy between weak and strong sustainability frameworks,
advocating for ethical and interdisciplinary approaches to policymaking. By offering a comprehensive synthesis of the most influential theories of economics and sustainable development practices, this study provides profound insights for policymakers, academics, and practitioners seeking to address pressing global challenges through informed and
integrative strategies.

Dal settembre 1943 al giugno 1944 la provincia di Grosseto fu occupata dalle truppe tedesche, sperimentando, come la gran parte dell’Italia e dell’Europa continentale, la pratica della sottrazione di risorse. Dopo aver delineato le caratteristiche salienti del territorio dal punto di vista economico, l’articolo analizza il funzionamento del sistema d’occupazione soffermandosi sulle difficili condizioni della rete infrastrutturale, sulla penuria di mezzi di trasporto e sulle conseguenze dello sfollamento degli uffici pubblici italiani dal capoluogo ai paesi dell’entroterra, fenomeni che pesarono significativamente sulla gestione dell’economia locale. Infine, si ripercorrono le differenti forme di asportazioni documentate nei mesi d’occupazione, dalle razzie indiscriminate delle prime settimane e della ritirata, ai tentativi di sfruttare sistematicamente la produzione cerealicola e il patrimonio zootecnico per il vettovagliamento delle truppe, passando per i tentativi di trasferire le risorse minerarie maremmane verso il Reich.

This study explores the pivotal role of theories of economics in shaping the multifaceted concept of sustainable development and integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It traces the intellectual trajectory of classical, neoclassical, and contemporary economic paradigms, analysing their contributions to sustainability-oriented policies and practices. The study critically analyses key concepts, including equitable income redistribution, resource stewardship, and ecological preservation. It contrasts liberal and dependency theories while also comparing insights from environmental and ecological economics. Employing a rigorous literature review and comparative analytical methodology, the study bridges the theoretical foundations with real-world applications, illustrating the dynamic interplay between theories of economics and sustainability imperatives. The findings elucidate the dichotomy between weak and strong sustainability frameworks,
advocating for ethical and interdisciplinary approaches to policymaking. By offering a comprehensive synthesis of the most influential theories of economics and sustainable development practices, this study provides profound insights for policymakers, academics, and practitioners seeking to address pressing global challenges through informed and integrative strategies.

Limited literature is available on the relationship between entrepreneur characteristics and performance of non-timber forest products small and medium enterprises raising debate whether the link is tenable with such firms. Thus, a study covering 314 small and medium enterprises in nine counties in Kenya was conducted to explore the relationship. The coefficient of determination, F statistic, and the t-value and their significance levels were used in presenting the relationship between entrepreneur characteristics and firm performance. The results show that that firm performance is significantly affected by entrepreneur characteristics of age, managerial skills, industry experience and social skills. Thus, it is concluded that entrepreneur characteristics and performance of non-timber forest products small and medium enterprises are empirically related. Firms run by relatively young, well-experienced and skilled entrepreneurs register better performance. It is necessary, therefore, that the non-timber forest products small and medium enterprises match their strategic decisions with characteristics of owners/managers to enhance their competitiveness and performance. The implications of this study are that specific policy measures are necessary to encourage the many well trained but unemployed young people to engage in businesses. Additionally it also implies that specific training programmes are necessary to equip the practitioners with necessary theoretical and practical capacities to enhance performance of their firms.

Little is known about economic viability of woodlots being integrated in smallholder production systems in Coast of Kenya. This study therefore, was conducted as a cross sectional survey covering a sample size of 219 smallholder farmers in Coast to generate information the costs and returns from woodlots. The sample forming 23 percent of target population of farmers supported through Kenya Coastal Development Project to establish woodlots was sampled using stratified random sampling procedures and a questionnaire with open and closed ended questions was applied to collect production costs and benefits. The net present value and annual equivalent values were used in presenting economics of woodlots on the farms. Casuarina equisetifolia was the most profitable tree enterprise. Production of Casuarina equisetifolia was economically viable and had better financial returns than any other woodlot tree species. Profitability of woodlots on smallholdings depended on level of integration into existing farming systems, market outlets and level of value addition. Highest profitability was achieved when woodlots were intercropped with maize at initial stages of establishment, and their value added products sold. In this scenario, one acre of Casuarina equisetifolia had average net present value of Ksh. 856,117 that translated to a discounted annual profit margin of Ksh. 153,361 over a seven-year rotation period. Processed products from woodlots sold through local markets gave higher returns than those sold on farms at stumpage. The woodlots of Melia volkensii and Gmelina arborea were equally profitable, leading to the conclusion that woodlots are economically viable on smallholdings in the Coast. It was thus, recommended that smallholders in the Coast be encouraged to integrate high value trees in their farming systems to help diversify and optimize their farm incomes.

Majority of farmers in Coast Region of Kenya practice agri-silviculture farming system as source of their livelihood and well-being. However, most of them grow the trees and agriculture crops on smallholdings that are characterized by limited resource base calling for adoption of enterprises with the potential of optimizing production and economic returns. Thus, financial assessments were carried out for the trees and agriculture crops to establish profitable ones. The study was carried out as a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire to collect data from smallholder farmers with woodlots and field crops selected using stratified random sampling procedures. The results reveal that woodlots were more profitable at their biological rotation than commonly grown field crops. Woodlots had an average annual net earnings of US$364.46 per acre spread uniformly over their biological rotation. On the other hand, annual earnings from highly ranked field crops averaged US$177.39 per acre. It was, therefore recommended that farmers be encouraged to engage in woodlots but inter-crop them with field crops at initial stages of establishment to help diversify, and optimize their incomes and food self-sufficiency at farm level. Farmers be encouraged to mechanize and use non-labour intensive technologies like using herbicides to control weeds and minimize labour usage that was observed to be the highest cost component in woodlot establishment.

Although entrepreneur characteristics and competitive strategy are dominant constructs within business studies there is still no consensus about how they act jointly to influence firm performance. The paper, therefore, tries to expand the understanding of the joint and individual effects of entrepreneur characteristics and competitive strategy on firm performance in the context of resource based view advancing that sustainable competitive advantage can be obtained by being in possession of strategically relevant resources and capabilities. The sample units are selected using stratified random sampling procedures and data collected by administering a questionnaire to 314 entrepreneurs dealing with non-timber forest products in Kenya. The data is analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses.  The results reveal that: (1) a significant relationship exists between entrepreneur characteristics and firm performance before introduction of competitive strategy in the relationship; (2) a non-significant relationship prevails between entrepreneur characteristics and firm performance after introduction of competitive strategy; (3) entrepreneur characteristics influence competitive strategy; and (4) competitive strategy influences firm performance. The observations meet conditions defined for mediating effect. It is concluded that the relationship between entrepreneur characteristics and firm performance is indirect and hidden requiring mediation of strategy. Thus, an integrated fit between the entrepreneur and strategy improves firm performance. The findings strengthen arguments advanced by resource based view that firms can obtain sustainable competitive advantage through their strategically relevant resources. The theoretical contribution of the study is the integrated approach and review of the multi-dimensional alignment of strategy with entrepreneur characteristics of education, skills and experience that depict the knowledge capital, and entrepreneur’s age and gender to improve performance. The study provides entrepreneurs/ managers with insights on the importance of aligning their strategies to resources possessed for better performance. It is important that entrepreneurs strengthen their knowledge capital to formulate and implement successful strategies for better performance.

I. INTRODUCTIONLosses of competitive entry and production in open-access resources have long been recognized.1 In the absence of formal property rights, there are no restrictions on entry, and agents do not bear the full costs of their production decisions. Classic externalities arise with the use of excessive capital, other inputs, short-time horizons, races to produce, congestion, reduced investment in the resource stock, and lower output value. To mitigate these externalities, governments implement various regulatory and rights-based instruments to constrain entry, limit output, and internalize external costs. We are interested in a particular set of institutions that establish a total resource extraction cap and then distribute shares of the resource or resource rents to individual users. These institutions are termed rationalization, which is how we will refer to them in this Essay. The potential for open-access exists for many natural resources. Here, we examine attempted rati...

In recent years, governmental and non-governmental organizations in Mali have given more attention to agricultural market development to meet consumers demand. This demand marks a model of mass consumption which is related to an increase of the population. Thereby, different programs have been developed to target agricultural value chains and market linkages. The main purpose of this paper was to assess the emerging marketing value chain of pearl millet in Dioila cercle among farmers. The survey was conducted in seven villages. Primary data was collected through face-to-face interviews using semi-structured questionnaires and secondary data obtained from the National Office of Trade and Competition, National Office of Market Observatory, and Organization for Consumers in Dioila. The characterization of farmers was done using descriptive statistics. To measure market participation among farmers, Heckman two-step model was used. The finding was that 212 out of 292 of sampled farmers w...

SFI Working Papers contain accounts of scientific work of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Santa Fe Institute. We accept papers intended for publication in peer-reviewed journals or proceedings volumes, but not papers that have already appeared in print. Except for papers by our external faculty, papers must be based on work done at SFI, inspired by an invited visit to or collaboration at SFI, or funded by an SFI grant. ©NOTICE: This working paper is included by permission of the contributing author(s) as a means to ensure timely distribution of the scholarly and technical work on a non-commercial basis. Copyright and all rights therein are maintained by the author(s). It is understood that all persons copying this information will adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may be reposted only with the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

The paper describes the application of Genetic Algorithms to a Resource Economics problem; the decision about the intensity of exploitation of a renewable resource. Genetic Algorithms, developed by HOLLAND (1975), are a model of biological evolution, that captures some important features of evolution in general: selection, recombination and arbitrary mistakes. They have therefore also been used already to model economic evolution and learning processes. The model will be based on two main assumptions. First, the agents using the resource are not informed about its reproduction dynamics. And second, although profits are their only concern, they are not able to calculate the optimal extraction rate that would maximize present value of all present and future benefits, like in neoclassical Resource Economics. This is caused by restrictions on the informational as well as the "intellectual" level, all referred to as "bounded rationality". The paper explains the model ...

Öz Çalışmada petrol tüketimi ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişki 1980 ile 2013 yıllarını kapsayacak şekilde 28 OECD ülke için analiz edilmiştir. Öncelikle ülkeler arasında yatay kesit bağımlılığı incelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgularda yatay kesit bağımlılığı olmasından dolayı birim kök testi ve eşbütünleşme testlerinin ikinci nesil test olması gerekmektedir. Bu nedenle ikinci nesil birim kök testiyle (Pesaran CADF (2007)) eşbütünleşme testi (WesterlundDurbin-H (2008)) kullanılmıştır. Ortaya çıkan sonuçlarda petrol tüketimi ile ekonomik büyüme arasında eşbütünleşme ilişkisi bulunmuştur. Çalışmanın son aşamasında ise uzun dönem eşbütünleşme katsayılarının tahmini CommonCorrelatedEffect (CCE) yardımıyla tahmin edilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlarda, esneklik katsayısı pozitiftir ve 0.279 olarak bulunmuştur.