Xueqin Zhu

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Wageningen University & Research

Our food system drives global environmental change, and differences in environmental concerns of consumers may cause negative environmental 'spillover effects' in less concerned countries. While food system transformation is increasingly recognised as crucial for mitigating such negative environmental spillovers, possible unintended negative enviro...

Given the complex managerial tasks and the risks and uncertainties involved in agricultural production, it is expected that personality traits may play an integral role in shaping farmers’ performance. This study uses a large rural household survey dataset collected in three rice-producing provinces in China to examine this proposition. We find tha...

Reducing water scarcity requires both mitigation of the increasing water pollution and adaptation to the changing availability and demand of water resources under global change. However, state-of-the-art water scarcity modeling efforts often ignore water quality and associated biogeochemical processes in the design of water scarcity reduction measu...

Environmental problems associated with the inappropriate use of fertilizers by rural smallholders are a growing concern in many countries. This paper contributes to the literature by examining whether risk preferences, time preferences, and personality traits are related to farmers’ use of synthetic and organic fertilizers. We rely on survey data c...

Developing economies face challenges in improving the overall performance of farms. An essential challenge could be a substantial shift in the agricultural labor force to off-farm sectors during the process of economic transition. This paper estimates the causal impact of migration on the economic and environmental performance of rice farms, measur...

We explore the mechanisms of the attitude–behavior paradox and how multiple stakeholders strategize to compromise their attitudes and behaviors. Through an instrumental variable probit model, we examine the effect of income heterogeneity and social ties on the farmers’ attitude–behavior paradox for collective action. The empirical results demonstra...

The egalitarian allocation of agricultural land and small operational farm sizes in rural China raise questions about the implications for overall productivity given that there exists potentially large heterogeneity in farm-level productivities. This paper examines to what extent land and capital are misallocated in a region in the North China Plai...

Land tenure security perceived by farmers is generally considered an important precondition for rural development. In this paper, we first propose a holistic framework of land tenure security that integrates Van Gelder’s tripartite view of tenure security with Ho’s credibility thesis. Following this framework, we empirically investigate the interre...

We explore the mechanisms of the attitude–behavior paradox and how multiple stakeholders strategize to compromise their attitudes and behaviors. Through an instrumental variable probit model, we examine the effect of income heterogeneity and social ties on the farmers’ attitude–behavior paradox for collective action. The empirical results demonstra...

One of the key issues in collective action is whether stakeholders are able to realize commons governance through a trust‐based mode or control‐based mode. This paper, examines whether trust and control affect the commons governance for small‐scale irrigation facilities, and the moderating effects of group size on the relationship between trust and...

This paper uses experimental lottery and time preference games combined with a socioeconomic survey to elicit subjects' decisions to adopt climate innovations in a smallholder economy in Ethiopia. Expected utility theory (EUT) with a constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) specification used to derive risk aversion parameter and discount rate. The a...

Migration can make an important contribution to rural poverty reduction and overall productivity growth, but it may be limited by prevailing rural land tenure arrangements. Since 1998, the Chinese government has implemented a number of land tenure reforms with the aim of improving the tenure security and the transferability of land. Although these...

Farmers’ pro-environmental agricultural practices (PAPs) are important measures to limit agricultural pollution and improve farmland quality. Given the positive externality of PAPs, the Chinese government has proposed a series of farmland protection policies to encourage farmers to implement PAPs. However, land transfer, an increasingly common phen...

Flood risk management has become important more than ever, because an escalating threat of unpredictable and extreme weather is affecting flood-prone communities. People-centred risk communication has been proposed as an effective strategy that can stimulate people to protect themselves against flood risks. However, little research with a sound the...

Many water resources are threatened with nutrient pollution worldwide. This holds for rivers exporting increasing amounts of nutrients from the intensification of food production systems and further urbanization. This riverine nutrient transport causes coastal eutrophication. This study aims to identify cost-effective management options to simultan...

The discount rate for cost-benefit analysis has to take account of future scarcity of ecosystem services in consumption and production. Previous literature focuses on the first aspect and shows the importance of the relative price effect, for given growth rates of consumption and ecosystem services. This paper focuses on intermediate ecosystem serv...

Land reallocations have been severely restricted in rural China since 1998. Nevertheless, land continues to be reallocated in some regions. Little is known about the forces behind the persistence of land reallocations. In this paper we argue that village self-governance rules affect the implementation of national laws and regulations, and that the...

Tenure security is commonly recognized as an important factor in stimulating long-term investments in land. Recent studies suggest that a distinction between legal, actual and perceived tenure security needs to be made in analyzing tenure security. This study discusses the relationships between legal, actual and perceived land tenure security in ru...

The discount rate for cost-benefit analysis has to take account of future scarcity of ecosystem services in consumption and production. Previous literature focuses on the first aspect and shows the importance of the relative price effect, for given growth rates of consumption and ecosystem services. This paper focuses on intermediate ecosystem serv...

Climate change is expected to have severe negative impacts on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries. However, smallholder farmers and governments in these regions tend to be ill-prepared for the impacts of climate change. We present the results of a stakeholder-based multi-criteria analysis of climate change adaptation opti...

This study examines the impact of policies and intensification on the environmental performance of Dutch dairy farms in the period 2001-2010 using a hyperbolic distance function. The results indicate that the change from the Mineral Accounting System to the combination of the Application Standards Policy with decoupled payments has not significantl...

Municipal solid waste is continuously increasing in the world. Since it contains a significant amount of organic matter, the treatment of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) represents a relevant challenge for sustainable development. This waste fraction, may produce a number of valuable commodities. The paper focuses on some specific...

Water governance remains a challenge for human societies, especially when the variation in resource inflow is large and the resource users are heterogeneous. We analyze with a coupled social-ecological systems (SES) model how socioeconomic and environmental changes affect the resilience of social norms governing resource use. In our model, agents h...

To facilitate decision-making processes in waste management, it is important to not only evaluate environmental impacts, but also to measure how stakeholders form opinions and make choices based one valuation results. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) have been widely used to evaluate environmental impacts; however, LCAs cannot be used to measure how p...

Bargaining is a tool to share collaborative gains and to facilitate reaching agreement. To improve incentives to join an international climate agreement (ICA), the Nash bargaining solution can be used to distribute cooperative gains across signatories. In this paper, we examine how the formation of ICAs and their mitigation efficiency are impacted...

This paper investigates how land tenure reform has affected livestock production in the pastoral areas of China. County-level data for Inner Mongolia between 1985 and 2008 are used in a fixed effects model to disentangle the effects of land tenure reform on livestock production from factors related to market forces, grassland condition, technologic...

International carbon markets are advocated in order to involve more countries in an agreement for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the costs of mitigation. In this paper we develop a model where allowances are endogenously determined by each member of a carbon trade agreement, but with an exogenous constraint on the number o...

We developed a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to study the potential welfare and environmental impacts of Iran’s trade reform for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Our results show that removing trade barriers not only results in higher welfare and GDP as well as lower prices due to efficiency gains, but also reduces emis...

A series of Ecological Construction Programs have been initiated to protect the condition of grasslands in China during recent decades. However, grassland degradation is still severe and conditions have not been restored as intended. This paper aims to empirically examine the effectiveness of these programs for protecting the grassland condition in...

Flooding is a serious problem in Jakarta, and detailed estimation of flood damage is necessary to design optimal flood management strategies. This study aims to estimate flood damage in a densely populated area in Jakarta by means of a survey, to develop the relationship between flood characteristics and flood damage, and to compare the damage esti...

This article examines whether relationships between social capital characteristics and the willingness of farmers to cooperate in collective action is moderated by the farmers' income level. We employed a structural equation model to analyze the influence of social capital components (social networks, interpersonal trust, social reciprocity, and so...

Urban water utilities have focused on setting water prices to cover average costs, usually using increasing block rate designs. In an attempt to contribute to the use of efficient, equitable, and revenue-sufficient pricing, this paper estimates the long-run marginal and average social costs of water supply in Mekelle city using a multi-product tran...

Divergences in preferences over the allocation of rural land among stakeholders are getting stronger with the decrease of rural land area. This paper analyses the degree of divergences among different stakeholders over the allocation of four types of land: cultivated land, grassland, forest and other land, and explores the optimal allocation from t...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of four components of social capital on farmers’ participative behaviour in collective actions for constructing and operating small-scale groundwater irrigation systems on the Guanzhong Plain, Shaanxi Province, China. Design/methodology/approach – The four components (social networ...

In Extremadura, a southwest region of Spain, water has been traditionally been seen as an abundant resource, but growing irrigation demands under a low price of about 0.01€/m 3 are outstripping the supply of raw water and competing with its other consumptive and non-consumptive uses. To deal with the water scarcity in the region, a water market can...

In areas where markets for natural water are lacking, information on its marginal value can be an important tool for proper pricing to achieve efficient allocation of the resource. This article investigates the marginal value of natural water (rainwater used as a proxy) in agricultural crop production in the suburbs of Mekelle City, Ethiopia, by ec...

This paper studies the relation between optimal dam capacity and water management un- der rivalry uses and externalities. We extend the hydropower generation model, based on Haddad (2011), by including the competing use of water resource, non-linear building cost of dam capacity and externalities in a welfare optimization model. We obtain the optim...

Xueqin Zhu "Economics of Water Management". In Oxford Bibliographies Online: Environmental Science, http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199363445/obo-9780199363445- 0024.xml

This policy report synthesises the evidence base on the costs and benefits of adaptation. It draws on the research, analysis and review of the ECONADAPT project, funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme. The key messages are summarised below. • The knowledge base on the costs and benefits of adaptation has evolved significantly in...

This paper covers a comprehensive economic analysis of climate change adaptation options for a specific wine producing region, namely Tuscany. As temperature increases under climate change, rainfall patterns will be different, and Chianti wine production in Tuscany therefore needs to adapt in the near future. We address the adaptation challenges an...

In 2011 the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) released a set of indicators for sustainable bioenergy. However, two important issues still remain unresolved. One of them is the definition of “sustainability”, and the other is the lack of a holistic assessment tool for drawing conclusions from the indicators. The aim of this paper is to provide cla...

This paper studies the relation between optimal dam capacity and water management under rival uses and externalities. We extend the hydropower generation model, based on Haddad (2011), by including in a welfare optimization model: (i) the competing use of water resource, (ii) non-linear building cost of dam capacity and (iii) externalities. We obta...

Food safety has become one of the main concerns of Chinese consumers. To establish the main sources of five heavy metals (chromium, copper, cadmium, mercury and lead) in four fruits (pear, grape, peach-shaped plum and orange), a study was conducted using samples collected from fruit farmers in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province. On average, the conc...

The main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of changing external conditions on irrigation water institutions in northern China. To this end, we perform a case study analysis of the impact of output market development on irrigation water transactions, using survey data collected among 315 households in Minle County, Zhangye City, Gansu Provi...

This paper studies the relation between optimal dam capacity and water management under rivalry uses and externalities. We extend the hydropower generation model, based on Haddad (2011), by including the competing use of water resource, non-linear building cost of dam capacity and externalities in a welfare optimization model. We obtain the optimal...

The Mekong River Basin (MRB) is a trans-boundary river shared by six countries. The governance by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) is weak. This study investigates the welfare effects in the year 2030 arising from strengthening the MRC's governance versus joint management of the entire MRB. Without joint management,...

This paper presents an integrated economic model which is able to explicitly address both water quantity and quality. We use a welfare program to maximize social welfare subject to the economic and ecological constraints, where interactions, emissions and environmental impacts are incorporated. Such a welfare program can provide the marginal values...

The Mekong River is shared by six Asian countries. Over the years there has been both conict and cooperation on managing the water resources to meet population growth, climate change and the desire for economic development. This paper exploits an axiomatic bargaining approach to examine how China and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) might negotiat...

The impact of EU agricultural support policies on farms’ economic performance is an interesting issue for policy makers. The objective of this paper is to investigate technical efficiency and technical efficiency change of specialized German, Dutch and Swedish dairy farms and to compare their relative productivity. Three subsidy-related variables a...

The impact of EU agricultural support policies on farms' economic performance is an interesting issue for policy makers. The objective of this paper is to investigate technical efficiency and technical efficiency change of specialized German, Dutch and Swedish dairy farms and to compare their relative productivity. Three subsidy-related variables a...

We analyse the impacts of direct income transfers on the technical efficiency of Greek olive farms. We use a production frontier function and a non-monotonic inefficiency effects model, which incorporates the influences of exogenous variables (subsidies, farm characteristics, etc.) on technical efficiency. The model is applied to 1995–2004 FADN dat...

The Mekong River (MR) is shared by six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Over the years there have been both conflict and cooperation on managing the water resources to meet population growth, climate change and the desire for economic development. Currently, the MR Committee (MRC) has weak policy instruments. This p...

This paper analyses the impacts of CAP reforms, particularly subsidies on technical efficiency of crop farms. An output distance function is employed and estimated together with an inefficiency effects model to capture the effects of CAP subsidies and farmer characteristics on farm efficiency. The model is applied to FADN data (period 1995-2004) of...

We perform a welfare analysis of transport infrastructure improvements in the presence of an imperfect labor market, allowing for endogenous wages and involuntary unemployment. Efficiency wage setting is incorporated in a spatial two-region general equilibrium model, written as a welfare program. In our model, firms set wages above the market clear...

We analyse the impacts of the CAP reforms on the technical efficiency of the crop farms. We use an output distance function and an inefficiency effects model which incorporates the influences of exogenous variables on farm efficiency. We formulate policy variables (e.g. the CAP subsidies) and producer characteristics as explanatory variables in the...

We analyse the impacts of the CAP reforms on technical efficiency of Greek olive farms. We use a production frontier function and a non-monotonic inefficiency effects model which incorporates the influences of exogenous variables on the mean and the variances of farm efficiency. We formulate policy variables (e.g. the direct subsidies) and farm cha...

This paper investigates the impact of CAP subsidies on the competitiveness of dairy farms in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Technical efficiency results show that coupled subsidies have negative impacts in Germany and the Netherlands, but no significant impacts in Sweden. Decoupled subsidies negatively affect technical efficiency in each cou...

This paper investigates the impact of CAP subsidies on the competitiveness of dairy farms in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Technical efficiency results show that coupled subsidies have negative impacts in Germany and the Netherlands, but no significant impacts in Sweden. Decoupled subsidies negatively affect technical efficiency in each cou...

We analyse the impacts of a change in consumers’ preference for Novel Protein Foods (NPFs), i.e. a lifestyle change with respect to meat consumption, and the impacts of environmental policies e.g. tradable emission permits for greenhouse gases (GHGs) or an EU ammonia (NH3) emission bound per hectare. For our analysis we use a global applied general...

With the gradual accession of various Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to the European Union (EU), international trade between the EU and the CEECs will change as a result of trade liberalisation and the mobility of production factors within the EU. The EU and most of the CEECs have already committed themselves to reduce by 2008–2012...

Intensive animal production systems in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands result in a series of environmental problems mainly due to manure surplus. This study aims to make contributions to identifying the solutions to the problems related to protein production and consumption. The first contribution is the theoretical modelling of environment...

Triggered by concerns about impacts of long-run climatic change the use of dual-rate discounting to evaluate projects and policies has been suggested. Environmental goods should be discounted at a lower rate than conventional consumption goods. We consider the appropriate use of dual-rate discounting for a class of models where environmental amenit...

We develop an environmental Applied General Equilibrium (AGE) model, which includes the economic functions of the environment, to investigate the impacts of consumers' preference changes towards the enhanced consumption of Novel Protein Foods (NPFs) and towards a higher willingness to pay for protection of the environment in the Europe Union (EU)....

We develop a theoretical Applied General Equilibrium (AGE) model that explicitly includes the environmental input in production functions and the consumers' preferences for environmental quality in utility functions. We empirically apply the model to provide some insights into the effects of the enhanced consumption of Novel Protein Foods (NPFs) an...

The production and consumption chains of pork and Novel Protein Foods (NPFs) and their environmental pressures have been compared using life-cycle assessment (LCA) in terms of environmental pressure indicators. We define two types of environmental pressure indicators: emission indicators and resource use indicators. We focus on five emission indica...

This book, with 18 chapters divided into 5 parts, provides a compilation of recent studies on consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods. These studies utilized different methods and evidence and the volume is organized to reflect this. The chapters in this volume find substantial diversity in consumer acceptance patterns internationally. Th...

Production of traditional animal protein products has high environmental impacts. Introducing Novel Protein Foods (NPFs) to the European Union (EU) is supposed to be one of the choices of reducing environmental pressures of food production and consumption. Novel Protein Foods are plant-protein based food products, which are developed by modern biot...

Keywords: General equilibrium modelling, Welfare programs, Non-convexities, Novel Protein Foods, Environmental life cycle assessment. Intensive animal production systems in Europe , particularly in the Netherlands , result in a series of environmental problems mainly due to manure surplus. This thesis aims to make contributions to identifying solut...

With the gradual accession of some Central Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to the EU, international trade between EU and CEECs and the related environmental problems will definitely change because of the free trade and the mobility of production factors (labour and capital) within the EU. This paper investigates the consequences of the enlargeme...

Xueqin.Zhu@wur.nl; Alfons.Oudelansink@wur.nl Contributed Paper prepared for presentation at the International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Beijing, China, August 16-22, 2009 Copyright 2009 by [Xueqin Zhu and Alfons Oude Lansink]. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes...

The choice of the discount rate is a crucial issue for evaluating projects with long-term environmental impacts. In this paper we propose a model to decompose the discount rate which provides further insight into what drives – or rather, what should drive – the choice of a discount rate. Environmental concerns are built into the utility function an...

This paper analyses the impacts of CAP reforms, particularly subsidies on technical efficiency of crop farms. An output distance function is employed and estimated together with an inefficiency effects model to capture the effects of CAP subsidies and farmer characteristics on farm efficiency. The model is applied to FADN data (period 1995-2004) of...