Browsing by Author "Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES)"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Assessing regional impacts of change: Linking economic and environmental models
    Attwood, J.; McCarl, Bruce A.; Chen, Chi Chung; Eddleman, B.; Nayda, B.; Srinivasan, R. (Barking, England: Elsevier Science Ltd., 2000)
    There is an increasing demand for holistic analysis of proposed changes that addresses both environmental and economic factors and impacts. Because economic and environmental models typically have very different, seemingly irreconcilable structures, researchers may consider the expectations of policy makers unattainable. However, this paper presents a method for incorporating models with different spatial scales into a coherent national analysis. The authors combine an agricultural model with geographical boundaries on the state and county level and a watershed model with watershed boundaries. This method is the first to provide national analysis that includes economic results at the state and substate level and environmental results at the small watershed level. The example integrated model provides results for a national policy of cropland erosion control and dissemination of improved crop varieties by a state experiment station.
  • Effects of global climate change on the U.S. forest sector: Response functions derived from a dynamic resource and market simulator
    McCarl, Bruce A.; Adams, D.; Alig, R.; Burton, D.; Chen, Chi Chung (Oldendorf, Germany: Inter-Research Science Center, 2000)
    This paper assesses the economic repercussions global climate change may have on the United States forest sector. The authors apply an economic forest sector model that accounts for a wide range of possible biological forest responses to climate change. Results are inputs for response functions, which yield overviews of the impacts caused by climate change. They found that the welfare of producers 30-40 years in the future is at greatest risk. However, overall impacts on both producers and consumers are relatively small, possibly due to the capacity of the forest sector to adjust, thus mitigating some of the effects of climate change.
  • Impact methods to predict and assess contributions of technology (IMPACT): Final report
    Texas A&M University (College Station, Tex.: Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Impact Assessment Group, 2000)
    This report covers research done for the USAID Office of Agriculture and Food Security of the Center for Economic Growth and Agriculture (Global Bureau). The overall objective was to develop and evaluate methods to assess the impact of the introduction and use of technology resulting from USAID investments in agriculture and natural resources for developing countries. A suite of integrated, interactive models was created for use in developing countries to assess the economic, environmental, and societal impact of such technologies. The research, conducted in East and West Africa, involved acquiring relevant databases and expert opinions through collaboration with national and regional partners; establishing a spatial framework using GIS methods to organize and analyze spatially explicit information; developing biophysical models to estimate production and environmental consequences of new technology; and adapting and using economic sector and farm-level models to estimate their economic consequences. Environmental consequences were estimated at field, area, and watershed levels. Methods were developed and evaluated to estimate the adaptation of new technology to geographically similar zones in areas that were both contiguous and noncontiguous to the locations where the technology was developed. The approach involved using research sponsored by USAID as case studies for developing and evaluating methodology. This provided both new methodologies and illustrative examples of the utility of the products. The project has proven the concept for the approach and, while the resulting products are judged to be imperfect, they are usable for the stated purposes. Further development is being continued under the Global Project of the SANREM CRSP.
  • The value of ENSO information to agriculture: Consideration of event strength and trade
    Chen, Chi Chung; McCarl, Bruce A. (Bozeman, MT: Western Agricultural Economics Association, 2000)
    This paper uses economic models to assess the value of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase knowledge in agricultural planning. The authors evaluate the effects of improved forecasts of ENSO through economic modeling that incorporates the US agricultural sector and global trade. They attempted to quantify the impacts of expanding the model to include global consequences of ENSO shifts and also evaluated the value of basing the model on the full distribution versus averaged ENSO phase strength effects, finding that accounting for the full distribution increased the value of the information to twice that of the averaged distribution calculations.