本期目录
01. Signaling sustainability: Do Canadian consumers prefer broad or narrow food sustainability labels? ( 可持续性信号：加拿大消费者更喜欢广义还是狭义的食品可持续性标签？)
02. Milk, money, and gender: Exploring the link between women's decision-making in dairy production and welfare investments in boys versus girls ( 牛奶、金钱和性别：探索女性在乳制品生产中的决策与男孩与女孩的福利投资之间的联系 )
03. Using the evolution of knowledge to explain changes in farm size distribution and specialization ( 利用知识的演变来解释农场规模分布和专业化的变化 )
04. Heterogeneous impact of crop diversification on farm net returns and risk exposure: Empirical evidence from Ghana ( 作物多样化对农场净收益和风险敞口的异质性影响：来自加纳的经验证据 )
05. For Amber waves of grain: Commodity booms and structural transformation in 19th century America ( 琥珀色的粮食浪潮：19世纪美国的商品繁荣和结构转型 )
内容提要
01. Signaling sustainability: Do Canadian consumers prefer broad or narrow food sustainability labels? ( 可持续性信号：加拿大消费者更喜欢广义还是狭义的食品可持续性标签？)
作者：Yang Yang 等
摘要：Sustainability labeling has been increasingly integrated into many food product labels in response to consumer interest in purchasing sustainably produced food. While a product label may contain the phrase “sustainably produced”, little additional information is available to consumers regarding how sustainability has been enhanced, or the dimensions of sustainability encompassed by the label. Using data from a survey of 1416 Canadian consumers, we examine consumer perceptions of sustainability and preferences for broad versus narrow sustainability claims across several contexts, including the dimensions of sustainability and the scope of a sustainability standard with respect to compliance criteria, product coverage, and geographical coverage. We find low levels of consumer knowledge and understanding of sustainability labeling, heterogeneity with respect to which dimension of sustainability appeals to different types of consumers, and a general preference for broad over narrowly defined sustainability labels, particularly with respect to the scope of criteria encompassed by the label. Our findings suggest some confusion as to what constitutes sustainability in the context of agri-food, but that broader, more encompassing labels are likely to gain more traction with consumers.[ 机器译文：为了响应消费者购买可持续生产食品的兴趣，可持续性标签已越来越多地被整合到许多食品标签中。虽然产品标签可能包含“可持续生产”的短语，但消费者几乎没有关于可持续性如何得到加强的补充信息，或者标签所涵盖的可持续性的各个方面。利用对1416名加拿大消费者的调查数据，我们考察了消费者对可持续性的感知以及在几种背景下对广义和狭义可持续性主张的偏好，包括可持续性的维度和可持续性标准的范围(关于合规标准、产品覆盖范围和地理覆盖范围)。我们发现，消费者对可持续性标签的知识和理解水平较低，关于可持续性的哪个方面吸引了不同类型的消费者，以及普遍倾向于广义的可持续性标签，而不是狭义的可持续性标签，特别是在标签所包含的标准范围方面。我们的发现表明，在农业食品的背景下，什么是可持续发展的构成因素存在一些混乱，但更广泛、更具包容性的标签可能会获得更多消费者的支持。]
02. Milk, money, and gender: Exploring the link between women's decision-making in dairy production and welfare investments in boys versus girls ( 牛奶、金钱和性别：探索女性在乳制品生产中的决策与男孩与女孩的福利投资之间的联系 )
作者：Jessie Lin 等
摘要：Greater women's bargaining power and decision-making within a household have been shown to increase investments in human capital. This study links women's participation in decision-making in dairy production with household investment in girls and boys in health, nutrition, and education. We survey households in the urbanizing region of Bangalore, India. We utilize a multinomial treatment effects model to analyze the individual and household factors that are associated with women's participation in sole or joint decision-making. We then assess how the type of decision-making influences a household's investments. The results first show that female decision-making households are more disadvantaged on average than other types of decision-making households. Second, we observe that female decision-makers for dairy production are more likely to have more children and earn a higher income than their husbands. Third, the main findings show that households in which women engage in joint decision-making have higher levels of investment across all categories for girls. Conversely, investments decrease in education and nutrition for both girls and boys when the wife is the sole decision-maker. Lastly, investments are enhanced further for girls when households can sell milk at a higher price.[ 机器译文：事实证明，妇女在家庭中更大的议价能力和决策能力会增加对人力资本的投资。这项研究将妇女参与乳制品生产决策与家庭对女孩和男孩在健康、营养和教育方面的投资联系起来。我们调查了印度班加罗尔城市化地区的家庭。我们利用多项式治疗效果模型来分析与妇女参与单独或联合决策有关的个人和家庭因素。然后，我们评估决策类型如何影响家庭的投资。研究结果首先表明，女性决策型家庭的平均处境比其他类型的决策型家庭更为不利。其次，我们观察到，乳制品生产的女性决策者比她们的丈夫更有可能生育更多的孩子，赚取更高的收入。第三，主要调查结果表明，妇女参与共同决策的家庭在所有类别的女孩方面都有更高的投资水平。相反，当妻子是唯一的决策者时，女孩和男孩在教育和营养方面的投资都会减少。最后，当家庭可以以更高的价格出售牛奶时，对女孩的投资将进一步增加。]
03. Using the evolution of knowledge to explain changes in farm size distribution and specialization ( 利用知识的演变来解释农场规模分布和专业化的变化 )
作者：Hanlin Wei 等
摘要：This study developed a theoretical model to explain the consolidation of farmland and specialization in agriculture. In the model, farmers are assumed to be endowed with knowledge regarding the production of each crop, which evolves through learning. Knowledge across crops is substitutable to various degrees. The farm size distribution and specialization are shown to be equilibrium outcomes determined by the distribution of knowledge. A simulation example based on farm-level acreage data from California is presented to show the relevance of learning mechanisms and test model implications.[ 机器译文：本研究建立了一个理论模型来解释农田整理和农业专业化。在该模型中，假设农民被赋予有关每种作物生产的知识，这些知识通过学习而发展。跨作物的知识在不同程度上具有替代性。农场规模分布和专业化被证明是由知识分布决定的均衡结果。给出了一个基于加利福尼亚州农场级面积数据的模拟示例，以展示学习机制和测试模型含义的相关性。]
04. Heterogeneous impact of crop diversification on farm net returns and risk exposure: Empirical evidence from Ghana ( 作物多样化对农场净收益和风险敞口的异质性影响：来自加纳的经验证据 )
作者：Baba Adam 等
摘要：Increasing frequency of extreme weather events threatens the livelihoods of low-income farm households due to the heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture coupled with the under-developed formal markets for risk management products. Thus, crop diversification is one of the widely usedex anteadaptation strategies to hedge against weather risk exposure. In this study, we use survey data from the northern Savanna zone of Ghana merged with historical weather data to shed light on the heterogeneous impact of crop diversification on farm net returns and risk exposure. We employ the dose response function and instrumental variable techniques to address potential endogeneity concerns. Overall, our findings show that crop diversification is a welfare-enhancing strategy that significantly increases farm net returns, lowers the probability of crop failure, and thus decreases downside risk exposure. Notably, our dose-response function analysis demonstrates that the positive benefits of crop diversification are particularly pronounced at lower intensities, reaching an optimal threshold. Beyond this point, the incremental advantages tend to diminish, suggesting the importance of carefully considering the optimal level of diversification for maximum benefits. The results further underscore the significant impact of both access to agricultural extension services and fertilizer usage on the adoption of crop diversification.[ 机器译文：由于严重依赖雨养农业，再加上风险管理产品的正规市场不发达，日益频繁的极端天气事件威胁到低收入农户的生计。因此，作物多样化是对冲天气风险的广泛使用的前适应战略之一。在这项研究中，我们使用加纳北部萨凡纳地区的调查数据和历史天气数据来阐明作物多样化对农场净收益和风险敞口的不同影响。我们使用剂量响应函数和工具变量技术来解决潜在的内源性问题。总体而言，我们的发现表明，作物多样化是一种福利增强战略，显著增加了农场的净收益，降低了作物歉收的可能性，从而减少了下行风险敞口。值得注意的是，我们的剂量-反应函数分析表明，作物多样化的积极效益在较低的强度下尤其明显，达到最佳阈值。超过这一点，增量优势往往会减弱，这表明认真考虑多样化的最佳水平以实现最大效益的重要性。这些结果进一步强调了获得农业推广服务和化肥使用对采用作物多样化的重大影响。]
05. For Amber waves of grain: Commodity booms and structural transformation in 19th century America ( 琥珀色的粮食浪潮：19世纪美国的商品繁荣和结构转型 )
作者：Jeff Chan 等
摘要：This paper examines the effect that the export boom in wheat had on US counties from 1870 to 1900. I find that increased exports in wheat, exogenously driven by declines in British wheat production, led to an unequal effect on wheat production across counties. Specifically, counties that were less well-suited to wheat production increased their wheat output relative to more productive counties. These low-yield counties also reduced their urban population share and increased the amount of agricultural activity occurring within their borders. Taken together, my results suggest that the wheat boom in 19th century America led to more wheat production in counties which were less well-suited for growing it, which slowed these counties' transition from rural to urban.[ 机器译文：本文考察了1870年至1900年间小麦出口繁荣对美国各县的影响。我发现，英国小麦产量下降的外部驱动了小麦出口的增加，导致了对各县小麦产量的不平等影响。具体来说，相对于产量较高的县，不太适合小麦生产的县的小麦产量有所增加。这些低产量县还减少了城市人口比例，并增加了境内农业活动的数量。总而言之，我的结果表明，19世纪美国的小麦繁荣导致不太适合种植小麦的县增加了小麦产量，这减缓了这些县从农村向城市的转型。]
