Papers by Philip Wandschneider
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1994
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1989
Agricultural Economics, 2003
Over the past 20 years the growth of China's agricultural economy has been extraordinary. However... more Over the past 20 years the growth of China's agricultural economy has been extraordinary. However, it seems unlikely that China will maintain self-sufficiency in grains by 2005 without substantial intervention. We develop a CGE model to assess the options available to Chinese policy makers. We compare the welfare effects of import tariffs and domestic support, and explore the potential of biotechnology as a means to achieve self-sufficiency through improvements in agricultural productivity. Our results indicate that the price interventions that would be required to maintain China's desired self-sufficiency ratios are considerable, and are unlikely to be compatible with WTO accession. The productivity improvements required are also significant, and likely beyond the current potential of biotechnology.
Agricultural Systems, 2007
Asparagus is harvested daily during the production season. The adoption of harvesting strategies ... more Asparagus is harvested daily during the production season. The adoption of harvesting strategies less or more frequent than the traditional 24-h strategy has not occurred because of problems in hiring manual labor. A model that predicts daily harvest and the impact of different harvesting strategies was developed. This paper presents a bioeconomic model, capable of predicting daily asparagus harvests, composed by different mathematical functions: emergence, density dynamics, spear growth, diameter, weight, carbohydrates reserve dynamics, and profit. The bioeconomic model was used to simulate yield, number of harvests, profit, and the total cost of harvest for every year in the period 1989-2004. A simulation with the minimum wage harvesting constraint was developed and is labeled as the constrained model. The model was evaluated using data from different locations for four consecutive years in Washington State (USA) asparagus fields. The impact of the minimum wage requirements was estimated in terms of yield and profit for both processed and fresh asparagus. The traditional harvest interval of 24 h was compared to a more frequent (12 h) and a less frequent (48 h) interval. Manual harvest with the interval of 12 h showed the best results in terms of yields and profits for both processed and fresh asparagus. Gains in profits with the actual production conditions in Washington State were US$183.88/ha and US$210.60/ha for processed and fresh product, respectively. The 48-h strategy resulted in decreased yields and profits.
We develop a demand model for the water market of Windhoek, Namibia, and segment the market by in... more We develop a demand model for the water market of Windhoek, Namibia, and segment the market by income. The model uses the perceived price concept developed by Shin (1985). Results confirm the Shin hypotheses that consumers don't know actual prices, but respond to perceived prices. The average price and covariates have the expected signs. However, marginal price (MP) coefficient is positive. Shin's perception parameter (k) is negative in two of three income segments. In the Shin model, this implies that consumers respond to MP (through perceived prices). Ambiguities about prices warrant further investigation.
The role of transportation infrastructure and energy as a key factor for development was recogniz... more The role of transportation infrastructure and energy as a key factor for development was recognized early in the history of economic thought. Most of the references in literature, however, tend to deal with historical case studies rather than with quantitative analysis. This paper presents preliminary results from econometric analysis of cross-sectional data from 83 countries as well as for 30 provinces and municipalities in China to assess the effect of transportation infrastructure and electricity on aggregate agricultural production and land and labor productivity. In the past twenty years, the increase in Chinese agricultural output, specialization and mobility in rural areas has also been impressive. Without adequate targeting of efforts and resources in the construction of new transportation infrastructure and upgrading of the existing stock, the congestion and inefficiency of transportation will pose serious constraints to the development of the national economy. Recently, fo...
A survey of local officials and analysis of election outcomes revealed that (1) availability of g... more A survey of local officials and analysis of election outcomes revealed that (1) availability of grants and loans, (2) cost, (3) voter knowledge, (4) voter turnout, and (5) fiscal conservation are key factors influencing a community's approval or non-approval of bond issues in small Washington communities.
Wine tourism also creates impacts. In addition to wine purchases, tourists spend money on other i... more Wine tourism also creates impacts. In addition to wine purchases, tourists spend money on other items such as gasoline and food. These expenditures ripple through the economy and produce a greater impact to the county and state.
The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 2004
Many commercial wineries produce a dual product: commercial wine and wine tourism. Since Idaho wi... more Many commercial wineries produce a dual product: commercial wine and wine tourism. Since Idaho wineries charge no entry price, wine tourism demand can only be ascertained with a shadow price for winery visitation. Demand for wine tourism visits for Canyon County in southern Idaho was estimated using the travel cost method. Trip demand was inelastic (-0.4 to -0.6) with respect to own price. The average value of Canyon County wine tourism ranged from $6 to $12 per person per trip, depending upon the assumed opportunity cost of travel time. Elasticities of tastes and preferences, closely related goods, and income were estimated with a view to understanding the market for Idaho's emerging wine tourism industry.
Public officials in small towns who participate infrequently in the bond market need information ... more Public officials in small towns who participate infrequently in the bond market need information about bond financing., This publication, one in a series of booklets published by the Western Rural Development Center using research gathered betweeir 1967-77, discusses factors influenCing the marketability and cost of bond financing for towns and cities in Washington, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, and identifies opportunities forvtowns and cities to trim their costs'of financing bonds. Sections include: a definition of bond costs, factors affecting bond interest costs, national capital market conditions, characteristics of the issue, reducing flotation costs, a summary, and a glossary of terms. Appended is a summary of data on which the research was based. (AH) *********************************a************************************* * Reproductions supplied by digs are the best that can be made * * from the 00iginal document. * ****************************************************...
The USDA's food assistance program, SNAP, uses shadow prices for nutrients, derived using lin... more The USDA's food assistance program, SNAP, uses shadow prices for nutrients, derived using linear programming to evaluate optimal benefits. We use linear programming, least squares and maximum entropy to estimate consumer shadow prices for 18 nutrients and 21 food taste values from 1910-2006. Assumptions about taste preferences explain differences across these econometric tools. This study explains correlations between taste and nutrient shadow prices with demographic composition of the U.S., which trends may unveil intuition behind unhealthy eating habits. Our estimated taste values and demographic relationships reveal misalignments of SNAP benefits with its overall goal of nutrition supplementation. JEL Classification: C61, D11, H53, I38, Q18
Review of Regional Studies
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 2008
Many seasonal workers are housed in transitory accommodations, including tents and vehicles. In t... more Many seasonal workers are housed in transitory accommodations, including tents and vehicles. In this study, we analyze the supply side of this problem by assuming that a public agent must house the workers through direct public investment. A peak load model is adapted to develop investment rules for the least-cost provision of seasonal worker housing, adding an interacting multi-season component to existing models. Based on this model and the data from three prototype projects, the majority of the least-cost investment would be in permanent, but seasonally occupied, housing.
Journal of health, population, and nutrition, Jan 15, 2016
Suppose 35 % of the households with children under 5 years of age in a low-income suburban neighb... more Suppose 35 % of the households with children under 5 years of age in a low-income suburban neighborhood in a developing country have diarrhea where improved water sources are available. Clearly, something is amiss-but what? In addition to focusing on the need to examine water quality among water sources that meet the 'improved' category when assessing health risk, the relative importance of the range of transmission routes for diarrhea is unknown. In Malawi, relevant baseline data affecting human health are simply not available, and acquiring data is hampered by a lack of local analytical capacity for characterizing drinking water quality. The objective of this work is to develop a risk communication program with partnership among established regional development professionals for effectively meeting the sustainable development goals. A field study was conducted in the city of Mzuzu, Malawi, to study water quality (total coliform and Escherichia coli) and human dimensions le...
Land Economics, Sep 1, 2008
Anaerobic digestion technology addresses environmental issues of waste disposal and greenhouse ga... more Anaerobic digestion technology addresses environmental issues of waste disposal and greenhouse gas emission reduction. This paper examines attitudes toward adoption of this conservation technology on dairy farms. To specify an appropriate dependent variable without a large number of adopters, an ordered probit model is constructed. The empirical analysis uses data from a 2006 survey of Northwest dairy farms. Aggregate variables
2000 Annual Meeting June 29 July 1 2000 Vancouver British Columbia, Feb 1, 2000
Intended for local municipal officials and their advisors on public finance issues, this publicat... more Intended for local municipal officials and their advisors on public finance issues, this publication describes the legal environment surrounding bonds and examines srne of the factors affecting the political feasibility of bond issues. Four categories of state controls of municipal bonds are discussed: limits on the amount of debt municipalities may incur; restrictions on the amount of revenue that may be committed to service debt; requirements for voter approval; and constraints on the characteristics of the bond itself. The publication reports the results of a survey in which 215 mayors (78 responded) of Washington cities and towns with a population under 10,000 were asked to rank factors which influenced the council and the population to approve or not approve a bond proposal in the last 5 years. Research results suggest several concrete actions that proponents (or opponents) of bond issues might take, e.g., stress the project's necessity for community well-being; anticipate and cou.Ater the tendency to fiscal conservatism among voters and officials; seek times of economic prosperity or low bond interest rates to attempt capital projects; and be sure that the appropriate officials are informed about the procedures for issuing bonds. A glossary of nine terms concludes the publication. (NQA)
Transitional yields based on county average can be used by producers as the basis to obtain crop ... more Transitional yields based on county average can be used by producers as the basis to obtain crop insurance on fields that have not previously produced the crop. Using field-level crop insurance contract data for several crops in five different growing regions we examine the impact of this asymmetric information on adverse selection. Our results indicate that adverse selection does exist from the use of transitional yields and that it is crop specific but not land-quality specific.
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Papers by Philip Wandschneider