Handbook of Operations Research in Natural Resources

Handbook of Operations Research in Natural Resources
Author: Andres Weintraub
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2007-09-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 038771815X

Here is the first systematic handbook treatment of quantitative modeling natural resource problems, their allocated efficient use, and societal and economic impact. Andrés Weintraub is the very top person in Natural Resource research. He has selected co-editors who are at the top of the sub-fields in natural resources: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining. The book covers these areas with contributions from researchers on, among others, modeling natural research problems, quantifying data, and developing algorithms.

Climate Change and Agriculture

Climate Change and Agriculture
Author: Robert O. Mendelsohn
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1849802238

The specific focus of this seminal work is on the economic impact of climate change on agriculture world wide, and how faced with the resultant environmental alterations, agriculture might adapt under varied and varying conditions. Enhanced with a detailed and comprehensive index, Climate Change and Agriculture is highly recommended for academic library environmental studies and economic studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists. The Midwest Book Review Despite its great importance, there are surprisingly few economic studies of the impact of climate on agriculture and how agriculture can adapt under a variety of conditions. This book examines 22 countries across four continents, including both developed and developing economies. It provides both a good analytical basis for additional work and solid results for policy debate concerning income distributional effects such as abatement, adaptation, and equity. Agriculture and grazing are a central sector in the livelihood of many people, particularly in developing countries. This book uses the Ricardian method to examine the impact of climate change on agriculture. It also quantifies how farmers adapt to climate. The findings suggest that agriculture in developing countries is more sensitive to climate than agriculture in developed countries. Rain-fed cropland is generally more sensitive to warming than irrigated cropland and cropland is more sensitive than livestock. The adaptation to climate change results reveal that farmers make many adjustments including switching crops and livestock species, adopting irrigation, and moving between livestock and crops. The results also reveal that impacts and adaptations vary a great deal across landscapes, suggesting that adaptation policies must be location specific. Finally, the book suggests a research agenda for the future. Economists in academia and the public sector, policy analysts and development agencies will find this broad study illuminating.

Mathematical Programming for Agricultural, Environmental, and Resource Economics

Mathematical Programming for Agricultural, Environmental, and Resource Economics
Author: Harry M. Kaiser
Publisher: Wiley
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-01-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780470599365

Mathematical Programming Models for Agriculture, Environmental, and Resource Economics provides a comprehensive overview of mathematical programming models and their applications to real world and important problems confronting agricultural, environmental, and resource economists. Unlike most mathematical programming books, the principal focus of this text is on applications of these techniques and models to the fields of agricultural, environmental, and resource economics. The three fundamental goals of the book are to provide the reader with: (1) a level of background sufficient to apply mathematical programming techniques to real world policy and business to conduct solid research and analysis, (2) a variety of applications of mathematical programming to important problems in the areas of agricultural, environmental, and resource economics, and (3) a firm foundation for preparation to more advanced, Ph.D. level books on linear and/or nonlinear programming. Despite its introductory nature, the text places significant emphasis on real world applications of mathematical programming to decision problems. A wide array of examples and case studies are used to convey the various programming techniques available to decision analysts.

Mathematical Optimization and Economic Analysis

Mathematical Optimization and Economic Analysis
Author: Mikulás Luptácik
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2009-10-03
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0387895523

"Mathematical Optimization and Economic Analysis" is a self-contained introduction to various optimization techniques used in economic modeling and analysis such as geometric, linear, and convex programming and data envelopment analysis. Through a systematic approach, this book demonstrates the usefulness of these mathematical tools in quantitative and qualitative economic analysis. The book presents specific examples to demonstrate each technique’s advantages and applicability as well as numerous applications of these techniques to industrial economics, regulatory economics, trade policy, economic sustainability, production planning, and environmental policy. Key Features include: - A detailed presentation of both single-objective and multiobjective optimization; - An in-depth exposition of various applied optimization problems; - Implementation of optimization tools to improve the accuracy of various economic models; - Extensive resources suggested for further reading. This book is intended for graduate and postgraduate students studying quantitative economics, as well as economics researchers and applied mathematicians. Requirements include a basic knowledge of calculus and linear algebra, and a familiarity with economic modeling.

Foundations of Agricultural Market Analysis and Agricultural Policy

Foundations of Agricultural Market Analysis and Agricultural Policy
Author: Ulrich Koester
Publisher: Vahlen
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2020-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3800663503

Ulrich Koester researches and teaches at the Institute for Agricultural Economics at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany. He has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry for over 20 years. Moreover, he gained experience working with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C. and with numerous international organizations, including the World Bank, FAO, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Auditors. His teaching experience is based on courses taught at more than ten universities in general economics and agricultural economics. Part I of the book lays the theoretical foundations for understanding price formation in product and factor markets. In addition to neoclassical theory, institutional economics is of particular importance. Part II presents and evaluates agricultural policy with special reference to the EU, whereby the evaluation framework goes beyond the usual welfare theory analysis. The book is also a valuable aid for students of economic policy, especially because of its detailed evaluation of individual agricultural market policy instruments. The book is aimed at students at universities, technical colleges as well as politicians interested in rational agricultural policy making.

Dynamic Programming

Dynamic Programming
Author: John O.S. Kennedy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400941919

Humans interact with and are part of the mysterious processes of nature. Inevitably they have to discover how to manage the environment for their long-term survival and benefit. To do this successfully means learning something about the dynamics of natural processes, and then using the knowledge to work with the forces of nature for some desired outcome. These are intriguing and challenging tasks. This book describes a technique which has much to offer in attempting to achieve the latter task. A knowledge of dynamic programming is useful for anyone interested in the optimal management of agricultural and natural resources for two reasons. First, resource management problems are often problems of dynamic optimization. The dynamic programming approach offers insights into the economics of dynamic optimization which can be explained much more simply than can other approaches. Conditions for the optimal management of a resource can be derived using the logic of dynamic programming, taking as a starting point the usual economic definition of the value of a resource which is optimally managed through time. This is set out in Chapter I for a general resource problem with the minimum of mathematics. The results are related to the discrete maximum principle of control theory. In subsequent chapters dynamic programming arguments are used to derive optimality conditions for particular resources.

Methods for Measuring Greenhouse Gas Balances and Evaluating Mitigation Options in Smallholder Agriculture

Methods for Measuring Greenhouse Gas Balances and Evaluating Mitigation Options in Smallholder Agriculture
Author: Todd S. Rosenstock
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2016-08-23
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3319297945

​​This book provides standards and guidelines for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and removals in smallholder agricultural systems and comparing options for climate change mitigation based on emission reductions and livelihood trade-offs. Globally, agriculture is directly responsible for about 11% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and induces an additional 17% through land use change, mostly in developing countries. Farms in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are predominately managed by smallholders, with 80% of land holdings smaller than ten hectares. However, little to no information exists on greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potentials in smallholder agriculture. Greenhouse gas measurements in agriculture are expensive, time consuming, and error prone, challenges only exacerbated by the heterogeneity of smallholder systems and landscapes. Concerns over methodological rigor, measurement costs, and the diversity of approaches, coupled with the demand for robust information suggest it is germane for the scientific community to establish standards of measurements for quantifying GHG emissions from smallholder agriculture. Standard guidelines for use by scientists, development organizations will help generate reliable data on emissions baselines and allow rigorous comparisons of mitigation options. The guidelines described in this book, developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) and partners, are intended to inform anyone conducting field measurements of agricultural greenhouse gas sources and sinks, especially to develop IPCC Tier 2 emission factors or to compare mitigation options in smallholder systems.

Bio-Economic Models applied to Agricultural Systems

Bio-Economic Models applied to Agricultural Systems
Author: Guillermo Flichman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2011-09-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9400719027

This book has the purpose of providing the "state of the arts" concerning bio-economic modelling dealing with agricultural systems. In most cases, the contributions use a methodology combining the use of biophysical and economic models, in all cases, an engineering production function approach is totally or partially applied. This practice is being developed in the last years as a response to concrete policy matters: agricultural policies are increasingly combined with environmental and natural resources policies, and this reality involves the need of an integrated assessment, that current economic models are not able to provide.

Productivity Growth in Agriculture

Productivity Growth in Agriculture
Author: Keith Owen Fuglie
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2012
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845939212

This volume is written primarily for agricultural economists doing research on productivity. It includes discussions of the theoretical underpinnings of productivity measurement as well as the many practical considerations that go into translating this theory into actual measures of aggregated outputs and inputs. The unifying concept of agricultural productivity used across the chapters of this volume is aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) of the sector. The volume also contains detailed analysis of the underlying causes of agricultural productivity growth. Part I (chapters 2-6) examines agricultural productivity in high-income and transition countries. Part II (chapters 7-11) examines agricultural productivity growth and its driving forces in five important agricultural producers in Asia and Latin America. Part III (chapters 12-14) focuses on measuring and identifying constraints to agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Part IV (chapters 15-16) gives a global perspective on agricultural productivity.

Microeconomics using Excel

Microeconomics using Excel
Author: Gerald Schwarz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2007-08-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134114133

Using Microsoft Excel, the market leading spreadsheet package, this book combines theory with modelling aspects and spreadsheet analysis. Microeconomics Using Excel provides students with the tools with which to better understand microeconomic analysis.It focuses on solving microeconomic problems by integrating economic theory, policy analysis and