The effect of insecure ownership on ordinary investment and on the exploitation of natural resources is examined. Insecure ownership is characterized as a positive probability that a typical asset or its future return will be confiscated. For empirical analysis, the probability of confiscation is modeled as a function of observable political attributes of countries, principally the type of government regime in power (democratic versus non-democratic) and the prevalence of political violence or instability. A general index of ownership security is estimated from the political determinants of economy wide investment rates, and then introduced into models of petroleum and forest use. Ownership risk is found to have a significant, and quantitatively important effect. Empirically, increases in ownership risk are associated with reductions in forest cover and with slower rates of petroleum exploration. Contrary to conventional wisdom, greater ownership risk tends to slow rates of petroleum extraction, apparently because the extraction process is capital intensive.

Lindstad, Berit Hauger. 2002. A comparative study of forestry in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, with special emphasis on policy measures for nonindustrial private forests in Norway and the United States. Gen.Tech.Rep. PNW-GTR-538.Portland, OR:U.S.Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 35 p. In recognition of the cultural, economic, and ecological importance of forestry in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, this paper compares forest resource data, ownership patterns, management issues, and the impact the forest sector has on the national economies of these four countries. There is particular emphasis on the analysis of policy measures that affect nonindustrial private forests (NIPFs) in Norway and the United States.This comparison of similarities and differences in the management of NIPFs serves to identify different solutions to common challenges faced by the forest sectors of Norway and the United States. Keywords: Nonindustrial private forests, NIPFs, forest policy, forest regulations, ownership, taxation, economics, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United States, Nordic. Forests and forest products have a long history of cultural, economic, and ecological importance both in the Nordic countries and the United States.There is an increasing awareness of forestry issues that a single nation cannot effectively address (climate change and biodiversity). Forest-related questions are thus higher on the international agenda.To address this, regional and international initiatives have been taken to help ensure sustainable management of the world's forests. Awareness of the differences and similarities between regions and countries is important for understanding the variations in current situations and possible eff...

ABSTRACT: The transition to sustainable growth in agricultural production during the 21 st century will take place within the context of a transition to a stable population and a possible transition to a stable level of material consumption. If the world fails to successfully navigate a transition to sustainable growth in agricultural production, the failure will be due more to a failure in the area of institutional innovation than to resource and environmental constraints. The institutional and cultural foundations of the modern world began to emerge in Western Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The material basis for the agricultural and industrial revolutions was established during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These advances were initially limited to a few countries in Western Europe and their offshoots. For most countries of the world, the transition did not begin until well into the twentieth century. These institutional and technical changes combined to generate unprecedented growth in population, in resource use, and in human welfare. Since mid-century alone, global population has doubled, energy production has more than tripled, and economic output has increased by a factor of five. The challenge of the twenty-first century will be to make the transition to sustainable

The matched pairs sign test using bivariate ranked set sampling (BVRSS) is introduced and investigated. We show that this test is asymptotically more efficient than its counterpart sign test based on a bivariate simple random sample (BVSRS). The asymptotic null distribution and the efficiency of the test are derived. The Pitman asymptotic relative efficiency is used to compare the asymptotic performance of the matched pairs sign test using BVRSS versus using BVSRS. For small sample sizes, the bootstrap method is used to estimate P-values. Numerical comparisons are used to gain insight about the efficiency of the BVRSS sign test compared to the BVSRS sign test. Our numerical and theoretical results indicate that using BVRSS for the matched pairs sign test is substantially more efficient than using BVSRS. Illustration using palm trees data from sultanate of Oman is provided. Key words: Bootstrap method, bivariate ranked set sample, power of the test, P-value of the test, Pitman’s relative efficiency, sign test.

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agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTORS AND PARTNERS IFPRI’s research, capacity strengthening, and communications work is made possible by its financial contributors and partners. IFPRI receives its principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on

Using primary data from a survey of expert opinion, this paper identifies key successes emerging in African agriculture. Among these, major commodity-specific successes identified include breakthroughs in maize breeding across Africa, sustained gains in cassava breeding and successful combat of its disease and pests, control of the rinderpest livestock disease, booming horticultural and flower exports in East and Southern Africa and increased cotton production and exports in West Africa. Using a dynamic analytical framework, the paper attempts to identify key ingredients that appear necessary for building on these individual cases and expanding them into broad-based agricultural growth. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. IMPERATIVES AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................................... 1 2. THE DATA...................................................................................................................5 3. CRITERIA FOR DEFINING SUCCESS ..................................................................... 7 Three Dimensions of Successful Outcomes ................................................................ 9 4. SUCCESSES IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE ......................................................... 12 An Overview of Success Nominations ...................................................................... 12 Commodity-Driven Successes................................................................................... 14 Maize Breeding ..................................................................................................... 14 Combating mosaic virus and pests in cassava ...................................................... 15 Expansion of horticultural and flower exports................................

agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTORS AND PARTNERS IFPRI’s research, capacity strengthening, and communications work is made possible by its financial contributors and partners. IFPRI gratefully acknowledges generous unrestricted funding from Australia,

Abstract There is currently much national and international interest in measuring commercial fishing capacity. Two quantitative methods that will likely be used for this purpose are data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier (SF) production functions. Although both methods can be used to estimate a production frontier, their underlying assumptions and method of solving for the frontier are quite different. One substantial difference is how each model handles noisy data. An understanding of the implications of this difference is important because random variation is likely to exist in commercial fishery catch data. This research uses Monte Carlo simulations to investigate possible finite sample biases attributable to this type of noise when estimating fishing capacity. The results suggest that the mean bias associated with noisy data is often substantially larger for DEA than SF. However, the frequency distributions of the biases from each method show a wide variation in some cases.

Abstract: Crop coefficient curves provide simple, reproducible means to estimate crop evapotranspiration (ET) from weather-based reference ET values. The dual crop coefficient �K c � method of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States (FAO) Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56 (FAO-56) is intended to improve daily simulation of crop ET by considering separately the contribution of evaporation from soil. The dual method utilizes “basal ” crop coefficients representing ET from crops having a dry soil surface and separately predicts evaporation from bare soil based on a water balance of the soil surface layer. Three extensions to the evaporation calculation procedure are described here that are intended to improve accuracy when applications warrant the extra complexity. The first extension uses parallel water balances representing the portion of the soil surface wetted by irrigation and precipitation together and the portion wetted by precipitation alone. The second extension uses three “stages ” for surface drying and provides for application to deep cracking soils. The third extension predicts the extraction of the transpiration component from the soil surface layer. Sensitivity and analyses and illustrations indicate moderate sensitivity of daily calculated ET to application of the extensions. The dual K c procedure, although relatively simple computationally and structurally, estimates daily ET as measured by lysimeter relatively well for periods of bare soil and partial and full vegetation cover.