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Studying the sustainable use of ecosystem services under uncertainty requires the consideration of the stochastic dynamics of the system under study, risk and time preferences, risk management strategies and normative views pertaining to sustainability. To gather this information for an important ecological-economic system, we conducted a survey of commercial cattle farmers in semi-arid rangelands of Namibia, a system that features risks on various space and time scales. Here we present a description of the research aims, design and conduction of the survey, and analyze and discuss the homogeneity and representativeness of our survey population. The survey consisted of a mail-in questionnaire and in-field experiments. We combined two existing farm-address databases, reaching 77% of the estimated 2,500 cattle farmers. The return rate of questionnaires exceeded 20%, and response rate to individual questions surpassed 95% and 90% for the majority of non-sensitive and sensitive questions, respectively. Distinct sub-sample groups within the survey population did not differ in the analyzed characteristics with the exception of ethnicity, regional location of farmland and an intentionally induced bias for residency on farm. It has turned out that we have undersampled distinct population segments of farmers, such as indigenous farmers or farmers not belonging to the main interest group of commercial cattle farming. Notwithstanding, we consider the survey to be highly successful, yielding a rich dataset which allows diverse analyses.

When judged either by educational attainment of adult population or by secondary and tertiary enrollment rates, by 2002 Albania compared very unfavorably to most European countries, including its neighbors. This study examines the determinants of secondary enrollment applying unobserved family effect probit model to data from Living Standards Measurement Survey 2002- 2003. The focus of the paper is to investigate the importance of access to school and to further education for enrollment. We find that both absence of a secondary school in the community and the distance from the residence location to a secondary school have strong negative effect on enrollment, controlling for family background. In order to alleviate potential endogeneity bias of distance and community characteristics effects, we control for migration history of individuals since 1990. In rural areas, enrollment is impeded also by absence of a pre-school in the community, and by higher transportation cost from the community to its “main” secondary school. Proximity to a university city (as opposed to other urban centers) substantially increases likelihood of secondary enrollment in rural areas. In urban areas, a similar effect has emerged in 2003, plausibly as a response to opening the market for private universities. The above findings suggest that developing tertiary education and child-care system may have positive spillover effects on secondary enrollment.

This paper lays out a framework for predicting the agricultural losses caused by an impeding invasion of a non-native species and for estimating the total economic impacts associated with the invasion, including direct, indirect and induced economic impacts. Along with the establishment of predicted total economic impacts, effects on employment and tax revenues are estimated using an input-output model. These estimates are essential for policy-makers to formulate appropriate responses. The framework is then applied to the case of the Red Streaked Leafhopper in the sugarcane producing regions of Louisiana. Results show that total annual impacts can be as high as $75 million from the leafhopper or as high as $956 million from the leafhopper carrying a specific phytoplasm after 25 years. State and local governments would lose $683,000 annually while federal revenues would be reduced by $3.3 million after 25 years. Employment effects from the leafhopper’s spread range from 821 lost jobs with just the leafhopper to 10,397 lost jobs with the leafhopper and phytoplasm at 25 years, an almost 0.1% point increase in Louisiana’s unemployment at current employment levels.

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the factor endowment and the pattern of intra-industry trade. Our empirical analysis relates to Hungary’s intra-industry trade in agri-food products with 26 member states of the EU over the period 1999-2010. Estimations reject the comparative advantage explanation of vertical intra-industry trade and provide partial support the prediction of Flam and Helpman model. Findings highlight that nature of factor endowments play also important role in explanation of vertical intra-industry trade. Other variables like market size and distance confirm the theoretical expectations. In addition, trade with new member states positively, whilst the EU accession ambigouosly influence the share of vertical IIT.

ABSTRACT  This paper shows that in the Baltic countries, commuting reduces urban‐rural wage and employment disparities and increases national output. To quantify the effect of commuting on wage differentials, two sets of earnings functions are estimated (based on Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian Labor Force Surveys) with location variables (capital city, rural, etc.) measured at the workplace and at the place of residence. We find that the ceteris paribus wage gap between capital city and rural areas, as well as between capital and other cities is significantly narrowed by commuting in some cases but remains almost unchanged in others. Different outcomes are explained by country‐specific spatial patterns of commuting, educational and occupational composition of commuting flows, and presence or absence of wage discrimination against rural residents in urban markets. A treatment effects model is used to estimate individual wage gains to rural—urban or inter‐city commuting; these gains are substantial in most but not all cases. Wage effects of commuting distance, as well as impact of education, gender, ethnicity, and local labor market conditions on the commuting decision are also explored.