Ludo Peeters - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ludo Peeters

Environmental and Resource Economics, Aug 4, 2015

We estimate a hedonic-pricing model using geo-coded farmland-transaction data from the Campine re... more We estimate a hedonic-pricing model using geo-coded farmland-transaction data from the Campine region, situated in the northeast of Belgium. Unlike previous hedonic studies, we use the method of unconditional quantile regression (Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux 2009). An important advantage of this new method over the traditional conditional quantile regression (Koenker and Bassett 1978) is that it allows for the estimation of potentially heterogeneous effects of cadmium pollution along the entire (unconditional) distribution of farmland prices. Using a threshold specification of the hedonic-pricing model, we find evidence of a U-shaped valuation pattern, where cadmium pollution of the soil has a negative and significant impact on prices only in the middle range of the distribution, insofar as cadmium concentrations are above the regulatory standard of 2 parts per million for agricultural land. Results obtained from a probit model to classify land plots into different price segments further suggest that the heterogeneous impact of soil pollution on price can be directly related to the variety of amenities that farmland provides.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 1994

An aggregator model of feed input demand in the Benelux compound feed sectors: a preliminary anal... more An aggregator model of feed input demand in the Benelux compound feed sectors: a preliminary analysis

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 1993

Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1997

This paper reviews the 'state of the art' of estimating priceresponsiveness of the demand for fee... more This paper reviews the 'state of the art' of estimating priceresponsiveness of the demand for feed ingredients in the European Union (EU). After a brief description of the main characteristics of the EU feed market, several modelling approaches are discussed. These have been categorised into three broad groups: (i) synthetic approaches; (ii) linear programming (LP) approaches; (iii) econometric approaches. Also, some recent extensions of the 'traditional' econometric approach are briefly reviewed, such as the construction of feed demand balances using incomplete information and the measurement of price-induced technical change. Finally, a number of methodological and practical issues are raised. This paper reviews the arts of modelling feed demand relationships in the EU for the purpose of comparative static analysis. The paper is organised as follows: In * Ludo Peeters is with the Limburg University Centre, Belgium and Yves Suny is with INRA, Centre de Rennes, France. This is a revised and updated version of a paper that was first presented at an international workshop on "The Technology of Primary Production", which was jointly organised by the European Commission, DG-VI and INRA-ENSAR. Rennes, July 1-2, 1993. Thanks to two anonymous referees.

2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2014

We examine several determinants of farmland values in the Campine region (Belgium) using data on ... more We examine several determinants of farmland values in the Campine region (Belgium) using data on individual sales transactions. Since the study area is well known to have a legacy of heavy-metal pollution of land, one of the focal points is the implicit price of cadmium (Cd) pollution. We use a hedonic pricing model, applying both mean regression (OLS) and quantile regression (QR). Unlike previous hedonic studies using QR, we use unconditional QR (Firpo et al. 2009). The estimates obtained using UQR have a more intuitive interpretation than those obtained using standard (conditional) QR, and allow for less ambiguous comparisons with their OLS counterparts. We find only moderate evidence of price discounts in the middle (median) price range due to Cd contamination. On the other hand, we find that farmland values are strongly affected by the development potential of agricultural land due to urban pressure.

Social Science Research Network, 2010

The relationship between investment and cash flow has been a subject of considerable empirical de... more The relationship between investment and cash flow has been a subject of considerable empirical debate. In this paper, our aim is to shed a new light on this relationship. It is argued that a firm's observed investment and financing decisions are endogenous, in an ex-post behavioral sense, and that, therefore, investment-cash flow sensitivity (when estimated in a reduced-form, linear investment equation) is likely to be an ambiguous, and possibly misleading, measure of (current and expected future) financial constraints. Empirical evidence is provided in support of our case, based on a two-stage estimation strategy. In the first stage, allowance is made for unobserved firm heterogeneity as related to cash flow; we generalize the Q-investment equation and estimate individual, firm-specific investment-cash flow sensitivities by applying an entropy-based fixed-effect estimator. In the second stage, we look inside the black box and investigate how and to what extent these sensitivities are "driven" by important underlying factors. A number of striking ceteris-paribus results emerge: a) investment-cash flow sensitivity is monotonically decreasing in the level of cash flow; b) cutting back on investment, hoarding more cash, taking less on debt, building up debt capacity, and paying low or zero dividends (actions that are typically associated with the presence of tighter financial constraints) tend to produce a smaller value of investment-cash flow sensitivity; c) investment-cash flow sensitivity is negatively related to cash-flow volatility and positively related to investment volatility; and d) firm size and asset tangibility do not contribute to explaining the variation in investment-cash flow sensitivities across firms. From these results, it follows that the relation between the investment-cash flow sensitivity's magnitude and the degree of financial constraints is indeterminate a priori. While such results call into question conventional wisdom, they help to explain the many contradictory findings encountered in the literature.

Social Science Research Network, Apr 6, 2009

Journal of Regional Science, Jul 4, 2012

ABSTRACT The estimation of gravity models of internal (aggregate) place‐to‐place migration is pla... more ABSTRACT The estimation of gravity models of internal (aggregate) place‐to‐place migration is plagued with endogeneity (omitted‐variable) biases if the unobserved effects of spatial structure are not accounted for. To address this econometric problem, this paper presents a more general specification of the gravity model, which allows for (bilateral) parameter heterogeneity across individual migration paths — along with (unilateral) origin‐ and destination‐specific effects. The resultant “three‐way fixed‐effects” (3FE) model is applied for an analysis of interstate migration in Mexico based on cross‐sectional data. To overcome parameter‐dimensionality problems (due to limited or incomplete information), the 3FE model is estimated using the Generalized Maximum Entropy (GME) estimator. The empirical implications of this new modeling strategy are illustrated by contrasting the 3FE‐GME estimates with those for the traditional and two‐way fixed‐effects (2FE) models. The former are far more plausible and intuitively interpretable than their traditional and 2FE counterparts, with parameter estimates changing in expected directions. The (average) effect of the migrant stock is markedly smaller than usually estimated, providing a more realistic measure of network‐induced migration. Migration outflows from centrally located origins have significantly steeper distance decay. Path‐specific distance effects exhibit directional asymmetries and spatial similarities.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jun 6, 1996

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Aug 28, 2002

Cahiers d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales (CESR), 1994

An aggregator model for the Benelux animal feed sector. The aim of this paper is to analyze the p... more An aggregator model for the Benelux animal feed sector. The aim of this paper is to analyze the price responsiveness of demand for feed inputs by the Benelux compound feed industries. Various sets of own- and cross-price elasticities are obtained from theoretically consistent feed input demand functions which are in turn derived from estimated cost functions. A large number of feed inputs is taken into account by assuming weak separability. This assumption allows for the use of aggregator functions and a two-stage econometric estimation procedure, thereby avoiding the problems of multicollinearity and lack of degrees of freedom which alternative procedures are usually facing. The total set of feed inputs is partitioned into four subsets, according to similarities in nutritional content : cereals, 'cereal substitutes', high protein feeds and additives. This study exploits the properties of the Symmetric Generalised McFadden (SGM) functional form as an alternative to the traditional Trans log function. Specifically, the SGM function has two attractive properties worth mentioning. First, the symmetry of the SGM function means that the analyst is not forced to single out one particular input to play an asymmetric role ; second, global curvature restrictions can easily be imposed, if necessary, without destroying the flexibility properties of the SGM function. Imposing global curvature properties is accomplished using the Cholesky decomposition. Complete elasticity matrices for the Belgian and Dutch compound feed sectors are reported and discussed in the article. From these matrices, a number of conclusions can be drawn : i) most quantities demanded for cereal and high protein feeds in the Netherlands are inelastic with respect to their own prices and substitutes among each other ; ii) similar results prevail for cereal substitutes and high protein feeds consumed in Belgium ; Hi) by contrast, demand for each cereal in this country tends to be very responsive to its own prices ; and iv) the demand for "additives" is very inelastic with respect to its own price.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Sep 19, 2003

[Hoeks, C.; Vanheusden, M.; Peeters, L.; Stinissen, P.; Broux, B.; Hellings, N.] Hasselt Univ, Bi... more [Hoeks, C.; Vanheusden, M.; Peeters, L.; Stinissen, P.; Broux, B.; Hellings, N.] Hasselt Univ, Biomed Res Inst, Diepenbeek, Belgium.

European Review of Agricultural Economics, 1995

ABSTRACT Persistent feed-price distortions brought about by the CAP has favored the use of non-gr... more ABSTRACT Persistent feed-price distortions brought about by the CAP has favored the use of non-grain resources in livestock feeding in the EU. This paper is concerned with the measurement of the rates and biases of technical change which have led to the displacement of cereals in livestock ration formulation. The analysis is applied to the Belgian compound-feed industry, where the displacement of cereals has been striking. An augmented translog cost function which allows identification of both endogenous (price-induced) and exogenous biases of technical change as well as the calculation of short-run ("static") and long-run ("dynamic") price elasticities offend input demand. Finally, a decomposition analysis is provided, in which changes in the overall proportions of grains and non-grain feeds used by compounders are explained by substitution, output mix changes, and/or technical change biases. Copyright 1995 by Oxford University Press.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 1997

Applied Economics Letters, Dec 1, 1997

... LUDO PEETERS, YVES SURRY* and ANJA CIELEN ... Therefore, we tested the residuals of the estim... more ... LUDO PEETERS, YVES SURRY* and ANJA CIELEN ... Therefore, we tested the residuals of the estimated long-run relationships (ie, the 'error correction terms' in the ECM) for unit roots using the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, the Weighted Symmetric (WS) test, and the ...

European Review of Agricultural Economics, 1990

ABSTRACT In this paper, a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the EC-9 f... more ABSTRACT In this paper, a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the EC-9 feed-grain sector is presented. Nonintegrable (asymmetric) feed-grain demand functions are estimated for each EC member country using a pseudo data approach based on a set of representative least-cost feedmix models. The price and quantity impacts of three "harmonizing" EC policies are investigated within a comparative statics framework: the abolition of monetary compensatory amounts, a 10 percent cut in EC grain support prices, and a 10 percent tax on the use of major imported "cereal substitutes." Copyright 1990 by Oxford University Press.

Regional Studies, Aug 1, 2008

In this paper, we present an empirical study of the relationship between aggregate migration and ... more In this paper, we present an empirical study of the relationship between aggregate migration and the income distribution across locations in a region. We use cross-sectional data on growth of per-capita taxable incomes, over the period 1991-2000, from the municipalities of the Belgian province of Limburg. We use a non-standard-convergence framework, built on the notion of 'weak absolute convergence', to test the hypothesis of selective income migration. The model we develop allows us to separate out observed and unobserved heterogeneity in convergence rates. Observed heterogeneity is incorporated by including net in-migration and initial-education variables. Unobserved heterogeneity is related to amenity differentials across locations. The model is estimated by using the generalized maximum entropy method, which allows for the 'non-parametric' estimation of the effects of the unobserved factors. While we find an average-convergence rate of about 4.2% annually, the heterogeneity in-convergence rates is consistent with an increasing dispersion (divergence) of income levels, due to selective in-migration. Our empirical evidence indicates that, overall, the initially high-income municipalities (including the main regional urban centres) as well as their immediate neighbours gained the most from selective income migration. We conclude that patterns of in-migration in the 1990s provided the basis for a cumulative process of divergence of per-capita incomes and a growing spatial concentration of high-income locations in the amenity-rich, southwestern part of the province.