The present study investigates the effects of combinations of climate smart agricultural practices on risk exposure and cost of risk. We do this by examining the different risk components – mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis – in a multinomial treatment effects framework by controlling weather variables for key stages of crop growth. We found that adoption of combinations of practices is widely viewed as a risk reducing insurance strategy that can increase farmers’ resilience to production risk.

The extensive kelp forests along Chile’s coastline are an important source of income for many small fishing operations in Chile. But harvesting pressure has denuded many areas of the sea floor, threatening the health of the inshore marine environment. Recently, small operators have begun work to repopulate and/or cultivate seaweed. This work aims at studying the role of fishing and agriculture as outside options and their interactions with risk and time preferences in the uptake of seaweed aquaculture technology.

This paper examines ethnic differences in fuelwood consumption in rural households, using an original survey dataset from two western Chinese provinces with large ethnic minority populations. We use a Heckman two-stage selection model to explain the quantity of fuelwood consumed conditional on a decision to use fuelwood. We find that ethnic minority families are more likely than majority Han Chinese families to use fuelwood.

In this policy brief, we offer an introduction to the family of policy instruments known as “flexible performance standards.” We describe and examine the attributes of performance standards that elevate them to be chosen in many jurisdictions, often as a precursor to carbon pricing, and we explain why flexibility improves their cost effectiveness and the potential they may have as complementary policies to strengthen carbon pricing to drive innovation, with a specific focus on the industrial sector.