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Papers by Mickey Rapaport-rom
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for... more This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for increasing social welfare, where production profits and amenity benefits are augmented. A positive mathematical programming model is calibrated and applied to the northern part of Israel, using a crop-discriminating amenity-benefits function. Changes in land allocation increase social welfare by 2.4% nationwide, and by up to 15% on the regional level. Regional scale farming-profit losses amount to up to 6%. Due to the decreasing-return-to-scale nature of the amenity-benefits function, the interregional variability appears sensitive to the manner in which the country is divided into regions.
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2020
Water Economics and Policy, 2016
Exploitation of alternative water sources is expected to grow in the decades to come in water-str... more Exploitation of alternative water sources is expected to grow in the decades to come in water-stressed countries with fast population growth, especially in regions where a further decline of natural freshwater availability is expected due to climate change. Increasing utilization of non-freshwater usually leads to salinity build-up in fields and water sources as well as accumulation of various pollutants — both having a considerable impact on the suitability of non-freshwater for irrigation due to constraints associated with crop salinity tolerance and food safety regulations. We developed a linked Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) — farm-level model of a water economy with representation for multiple water types characterized by different qualities. We employ the model to assess the impact of water shortage on the Israeli economy, where steadily growing water scarcity leads to an increasing utilization of alternative water sources. We simulate water shortage scenarios based on t...
We developed a regional scale economic model named VALUE (Vegetative Agricultural Land Use Econom... more We developed a regional scale economic model named VALUE (Vegetative Agricultural Land Use Economic) to eff ectively estimate the impacts of future changes on vegetative agriculture in Israel. The objective of VALUE is to simulate the behavior of farmers How can land-use be adapted to climate change? An economic analysis for Israel under climate change (precipitation), the availability of irrigation water, and diff erent prices and limitation of water. The latter changes can be caused by climate change, but also by global processes such as trade conditions or technological advancements. The VALUE model was developed and calibrated for 21 "ecological regions" in Israel (Howitt, 1995; 2005). In each region, the model incorporates 45 crops and calculates the optimal land allocation among them, as well as the allocation of freshwater, treated waste-water and brackish water. The allocations of the diff erent water sources are determined to maximize farming profi ts given the simulated constraints on land properties and irrigation water.
Climate Change Economics, 2011
This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, I... more This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, ICES, employing inputs from a partial equilibrium model for the agricultural sector, VALUE. The aim is to quantify and analyze the medium-term socio-economic consequences of projected climate change. The methodology is innovative as it combines state-of-the-art knowledge from economic and biophysical sources and is demonstrated in application to two Mediterrenean countries: Israel and Italy. The information from the VALUE model was incorporated into the ICES economic model to improve the agricultural production structure. The new land allocation method takes into account the variation of substitutability across different types of land use. It captures agronomic features included in the VALUE model. This modification gives a better representation of heterogeneous information of land productivity to the economic framework. Climate impacts and policy evaluation with ICES are reinforced due t...
Field-level economic analyses have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. ... more Field-level economic analyses have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. This paper examines this issue on a regional scale, where both water sources and land are concurrently allocated to crops. We compare regional waterdistribution networks that enable salinity adjustment at the field level to networks that allow controlling water salinity on a regional scale only, such that salt concentrations cannot differ per crop. We characterize the conditions for optimal blending under regional salinity-control networks, and show that these conditions can be met in empirical studies based on production models commonly used in the literature. Empirical analysis of 16 regions in Israel revealed optimal blending in six of them. The paper analyzes the relationship of shadow values of water and land constraints to the properties of distribution networks, and relative farming profitability under exogenous and endogenous water- and land-pricing schemes.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We develop a regional scale economic model for analyzing climate-change impacts on agriculture. N... more We develop a regional scale economic model for analyzing climate-change impacts on agriculture. Non-linear production funct ions describing yield responses to land allocation, water application and water salini ty are integrated into a mathematical programming model. The responses to water quantity and quality are estimated by the use of scientific-based models simulating equilibri um in the root zone among plant's water uptake, soil salinity and soil's water conten t. Internalization of land allocation among crops is based on Howitt's PMP calibration approach (1995). The model, therefore, enables assessment of climate-change imp acts on optimal agricultural management, where adaptation is considered endogenously with respect to both the extensive and intensive margins. The model is applied to the case of Israel. We divi de the country into 14 regions and estimate regional future precipitation levels b y implementing a climate-change down-scaling procedure. Then the model computes optimal agricultural managements under these projected rainfall levels. The results indicate a reduction of about 20% in statewide annual agricultural net-revenues by the y ear 2100 in comparison to 2002. Land allocated to field crops is increased on the e xpense of forages and vegetables. The shares of field crops and forages in the agricu ltural irrigation-water allotment are increased, while that of vegetables declines.
Water Resources Research, 2012
ABSTRACT Blending fresh and saline irrigation waters is implemented in many countries facing wate... more ABSTRACT Blending fresh and saline irrigation waters is implemented in many countries facing water scarcity. However, when analyzed at the field level, previous economic studies have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. This paper examines the blending issue on a regional scale, where both water sources and land are concurrently allocated to crops. Regional water distribution networks that enable salinity adjustment at the field level are compared to networks that allow controlling water salinity on a regional scale only, such that salt concentrations cannot differ by crop. We characterize the conditions for blending to be an optimal strategy under regional salinity control networks, and show that these conditions can be met by an empirical water production model commonly used in the literature. Empirical analysis of 16 regions in Israel revealed optimal blending in six of them. However, regardless of whether blending is optimal or not, the optimal fresh-water application is higher under regional salinity control networks, implying that blending does not support freshwater conservation. The paper analyzes the relationship between water and land constraints' shadow values, and the properties of the two water distribution networks. We show that although farming revenues are higher under networks that allow assignment of specific water salinities to crops, regional salinity control networks can become more profitable to farmers who face prices set endogenously so as to be the binding factor on the use of constrained water and land. The implications of the network selection on intraregional water supply costs are discussed.
Ecological Economics, 2009
This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, I... more This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, ICES, employing inputs from a partial equilibrium model for agricultural sector, VALUE. The aim is to quantify and analyze the medium-term socio-economic consequences of projected climate change. The methodology is innovative as it combines state-of-the-art knowledge from economic and biophysical sources. Initially, to this end, the VALUE model is applied to two Mediterrenean countries: Israel and Italy. The information from VALUE model was incorporated in the economic model ICES to improve the agricultural production structure. The new land allocation method takes into account the variation of substitutability between different types of land use. It captures agronomic features included in the VALUE model. This modification gives a better representation of heterogeneous information of land productivity to the economic framework. Climate impacts and policy evaluation with ICES become reinforced due to the more refined system of land allocation.
Climate Change Economics, 2011
... Author(s): RUSLANA R. PALATNIK Corresponding author. ... Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel I... more ... Author(s): RUSLANA R. PALATNIK Corresponding author. ... Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel IDDO KAN Natural Resource & Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, The Robert H. Smith ...
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for... more This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for increasing social welfare, where production profits and amenity benefits are augmented. A positive mathematical programming model is calibrated and applied to the northern part of Israel, using a crop-discriminating amenity-benefits function. Changes in land allocation increase social welfare by 2.4% nationwide, and by up to 15% on the regional level. Regional scale farming-profit losses amount to up to 6%. Due to the decreasing-return-to-scale nature of the amenity-benefits function, the interregional variability appears sensitive to the manner in which the country is divided into regions.
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2020
Water Economics and Policy, 2016
Exploitation of alternative water sources is expected to grow in the decades to come in water-str... more Exploitation of alternative water sources is expected to grow in the decades to come in water-stressed countries with fast population growth, especially in regions where a further decline of natural freshwater availability is expected due to climate change. Increasing utilization of non-freshwater usually leads to salinity build-up in fields and water sources as well as accumulation of various pollutants — both having a considerable impact on the suitability of non-freshwater for irrigation due to constraints associated with crop salinity tolerance and food safety regulations. We developed a linked Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) — farm-level model of a water economy with representation for multiple water types characterized by different qualities. We employ the model to assess the impact of water shortage on the Israeli economy, where steadily growing water scarcity leads to an increasing utilization of alternative water sources. We simulate water shortage scenarios based on t...
We developed a regional scale economic model named VALUE (Vegetative Agricultural Land Use Econom... more We developed a regional scale economic model named VALUE (Vegetative Agricultural Land Use Economic) to eff ectively estimate the impacts of future changes on vegetative agriculture in Israel. The objective of VALUE is to simulate the behavior of farmers How can land-use be adapted to climate change? An economic analysis for Israel under climate change (precipitation), the availability of irrigation water, and diff erent prices and limitation of water. The latter changes can be caused by climate change, but also by global processes such as trade conditions or technological advancements. The VALUE model was developed and calibrated for 21 "ecological regions" in Israel (Howitt, 1995; 2005). In each region, the model incorporates 45 crops and calculates the optimal land allocation among them, as well as the allocation of freshwater, treated waste-water and brackish water. The allocations of the diff erent water sources are determined to maximize farming profi ts given the simulated constraints on land properties and irrigation water.
Climate Change Economics, 2011
This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, I... more This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, ICES, employing inputs from a partial equilibrium model for the agricultural sector, VALUE. The aim is to quantify and analyze the medium-term socio-economic consequences of projected climate change. The methodology is innovative as it combines state-of-the-art knowledge from economic and biophysical sources and is demonstrated in application to two Mediterrenean countries: Israel and Italy. The information from the VALUE model was incorporated into the ICES economic model to improve the agricultural production structure. The new land allocation method takes into account the variation of substitutability across different types of land use. It captures agronomic features included in the VALUE model. This modification gives a better representation of heterogeneous information of land productivity to the economic framework. Climate impacts and policy evaluation with ICES are reinforced due t...
Field-level economic analyses have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. ... more Field-level economic analyses have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. This paper examines this issue on a regional scale, where both water sources and land are concurrently allocated to crops. We compare regional waterdistribution networks that enable salinity adjustment at the field level to networks that allow controlling water salinity on a regional scale only, such that salt concentrations cannot differ per crop. We characterize the conditions for optimal blending under regional salinity-control networks, and show that these conditions can be met in empirical studies based on production models commonly used in the literature. Empirical analysis of 16 regions in Israel revealed optimal blending in six of them. The paper analyzes the relationship of shadow values of water and land constraints to the properties of distribution networks, and relative farming profitability under exogenous and endogenous water- and land-pricing schemes.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We develop a regional scale economic model for analyzing climate-change impacts on agriculture. N... more We develop a regional scale economic model for analyzing climate-change impacts on agriculture. Non-linear production funct ions describing yield responses to land allocation, water application and water salini ty are integrated into a mathematical programming model. The responses to water quantity and quality are estimated by the use of scientific-based models simulating equilibri um in the root zone among plant's water uptake, soil salinity and soil's water conten t. Internalization of land allocation among crops is based on Howitt's PMP calibration approach (1995). The model, therefore, enables assessment of climate-change imp acts on optimal agricultural management, where adaptation is considered endogenously with respect to both the extensive and intensive margins. The model is applied to the case of Israel. We divi de the country into 14 regions and estimate regional future precipitation levels b y implementing a climate-change down-scaling procedure. Then the model computes optimal agricultural managements under these projected rainfall levels. The results indicate a reduction of about 20% in statewide annual agricultural net-revenues by the y ear 2100 in comparison to 2002. Land allocated to field crops is increased on the e xpense of forages and vegetables. The shares of field crops and forages in the agricu ltural irrigation-water allotment are increased, while that of vegetables declines.
Water Resources Research, 2012
ABSTRACT Blending fresh and saline irrigation waters is implemented in many countries facing wate... more ABSTRACT Blending fresh and saline irrigation waters is implemented in many countries facing water scarcity. However, when analyzed at the field level, previous economic studies have indicated that blending fresh and saline water is suboptimal. This paper examines the blending issue on a regional scale, where both water sources and land are concurrently allocated to crops. Regional water distribution networks that enable salinity adjustment at the field level are compared to networks that allow controlling water salinity on a regional scale only, such that salt concentrations cannot differ by crop. We characterize the conditions for blending to be an optimal strategy under regional salinity control networks, and show that these conditions can be met by an empirical water production model commonly used in the literature. Empirical analysis of 16 regions in Israel revealed optimal blending in six of them. However, regardless of whether blending is optimal or not, the optimal fresh-water application is higher under regional salinity control networks, implying that blending does not support freshwater conservation. The paper analyzes the relationship between water and land constraints' shadow values, and the properties of the two water distribution networks. We show that although farming revenues are higher under networks that allow assignment of specific water salinities to crops, regional salinity control networks can become more profitable to farmers who face prices set endogenously so as to be the binding factor on the use of constrained water and land. The implications of the network selection on intraregional water supply costs are discussed.
Ecological Economics, 2009
This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, I... more This study presents an internal modification of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, ICES, employing inputs from a partial equilibrium model for agricultural sector, VALUE. The aim is to quantify and analyze the medium-term socio-economic consequences of projected climate change. The methodology is innovative as it combines state-of-the-art knowledge from economic and biophysical sources. Initially, to this end, the VALUE model is applied to two Mediterrenean countries: Israel and Italy. The information from VALUE model was incorporated in the economic model ICES to improve the agricultural production structure. The new land allocation method takes into account the variation of substitutability between different types of land use. It captures agronomic features included in the VALUE model. This modification gives a better representation of heterogeneous information of land productivity to the economic framework. Climate impacts and policy evaluation with ICES become reinforced due to the more refined system of land allocation.
Climate Change Economics, 2011
... Author(s): RUSLANA R. PALATNIK Corresponding author. ... Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel I... more ... Author(s): RUSLANA R. PALATNIK Corresponding author. ... Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel IDDO KAN Natural Resource & Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, The Robert H. Smith ...