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The biofuel industry has received billions of dollars in support from governments around the world, as political leaders respond to new environmental and energy-security imperatives. However, a growing body of research highlights nontrivial costs associated with biofuel production, including environmental destruction and diminished food security, and questions the magnitude of perceived benefits. We discuss the ability of biofuels to accomplish climate change, rural development and energy-security objectives, and consider possible impacts on food production and environmental conservation. We also review methods for judging biofuels, consider how well they contribute to policy objectives, and compare policies that support biofuels.

Major environmental functions and human needs critically depend on water. In regions of the world affected by water scarcity economic activities can be constrained by water availability, leading to competition both among sectors and between human uses and environmental needs. While the commodification of water remains a contentious political issue, the valuation of this natural resource is sometime viewed as a strategy to avoid water waste. Likewise, water markets have been invoked as a mechanism to allocate water to economically most efficient uses. The value of water, however, remains difficult to estimate because water markets and market prices exist only in few regions of the world. Despite numerous attempts at estimating the value of water in the absence of markets (i.e., the "shadow price"), a global spatially explicit assessment of the value of water in agriculture is still missing. Here we propose a data-parsimonious biophysical framework to determine the value generated by water in irrigated agriculture and highlight its global spatiotemporal patterns. We find that in much of the world the actual crop distribution does not maximize agricultural water value.

Major environmental functions and human needs critically depend on water. In regions of the world affected by water scarcity economic activities can be constrained by water availability, leading to competition both among sectors and between human uses and environmental needs. While the commodification of water remains a contentious political issue, the valuation of this natural resource is sometime viewed as a strategy to avoid water waste. Likewise, water markets have been invoked as a mechanism to allocate water to economically most efficient uses. The value of water, however, remains difficult to estimate because water markets and market prices exist only in few regions of the world. Despite numerous attempts at estimating the value of water in the absence of markets (i.e., the "shadow price"), a global spatially explicit assessment of the value of water in agriculture is still missing. Here we propose a data-parsimonious biophysical framework to determine the value generated by water in irrigated agriculture and highlight its global spatiotemporal patterns. We find that in much of the world the actual crop distribution does not maximize agricultural water value.

Major environmental functions and human needs critically depend on water. In regions of the world affected by water scarcity economic activities can be constrained by water availability, leading to competition both among sectors and between human uses and environmental needs. While the commodification of water remains a contentious political issue, the valuation of this natural resource is sometime viewed as a strategy to avoid water waste. Likewise, water markets have been invoked as a mechanism to allocate water to economically most efficient uses. The value of water, however, remains difficult to estimate because water markets and market prices exist only in few regions of the world. Despite numerous attempts at estimating the value of water in the absence of markets (i.e., the "shadow price"), a global spatially explicit assessment of the value of water in agriculture is still missing. Here we propose a data-parsimonious biophysical framework to determine the value generated by water in irrigated agriculture and highlight its global spatiotemporal patterns. We find that in much of the world the actual crop distribution does not maximize agricultural water value.

1. Beer: A Poster Child of the Bioeconomy The bioeconomy includes agricultural sectors that rely on farm inputs and biological processes to produce a wide array of products. The traditional bioeconomy relied on fermentation to produce cheese, beer, etc., while the modern bioeconomy relies on biotechnology. The history of beer used as a case study suggests that over time, the bioeconomy evolved to produce differentiated products with elaborate supply chains. Its evolution depended on investments in research and a balanced regulatory environment. 2. Investment Warning: Farming May Endanger Your Financial Health During the last 15 years, some two-thirds of individual taxpayers with farm income have reported total net farm losses averaging over $11.1 billion annually. In addition, the U.S. Government participates in funding these losses by foregoing taxes on other sources of income from which farm losses are deducted. Persistent losses indicate that farming may have changed from an investment to a consumption good for many individual taxpayers. 3. Obesity in Mexican-Origin Children Research results from the Ninos Sanos, Familia Sana project found that mothers have a dominant role in the weight of their children. Obese children are more prone to gain more weight, at the margin, if their mothersare overweight. Other factors are also important in explaining obesity in Mexican-origin children.

Part 1. Gordon Rausser: Scholar, Leader and Entrepreneur -- Chapter 1. On the Essence of Leadership: Lessons from Gordon Rausser -- Chapter 2. Scholar, Entrepreneur and Editorial Innovator -- Chapter 3. Gordon Rausser: Impacts on the World Food System -- Chapter 4. Gordon Rausser and the Transformation of Agricultural Economics from the 1960s to the 1980s -- Part 2. Major Developments in Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics -- Chapter 5. Principles of Policy Modeling in Agriculture -- Chapter 6. Woke Farm and Food Policies in the Post-Truth Era: Calamitous Consequences for People and the Planet -- Chapter 7. The Future of Food Economics -- Chapter 8. Closing the Gap between Water Needs and Renewable Water Supplies: Global Perspective and Local Lessons -- Chapter 9. Remote Sensing Technologies: Implications for Agricultural and Resource Economics -- Part 3. Major Developments in Institutional Economics and Political Economy -- Chapter 10. Special Interests and the Public Interest in Public Policy and Information: Insights from Agricultural and Food Policies -- Chapter 11. The Evolution of Political Hyperbole and Polarization: Echo Chambers and Voter-Elite Feedback Loops -- Chapter 12. The Puzzle of Lagging Sub-Saharan Africa Agriculture: Toward a Theory of Connectedness -- Chapter 13. Control of the Research Agenda in University-Industry Partnerships -- Chapter 14. Econometrics in Law and Economics: Challenges at Class Certification -- Part 4. Major Developments in Macroeconomic Linkages, Futures Markets, and Commodity Systems -- Chapter 15. Macroeconomic Linkages to the Agricultural Supply Chain -- Chapter 16. The Theory of Normal Backwardation and Financialization of the Futures Markets -- Chapter 17. Causes of the Great Food Commodity Price Booms in the New Millennium -- Chapter 18. Economics and Policy Implications of Contracts in Agriculture -- Chapter 19. How Gordon Rausser's Legacy will Influence the Way Forward.

AbstractE‐commerce is rapidly diffusing in developing regions of the world. Its share is still small even in modern retail, except in the frontrunner China, but it is developing quickly in Asia and Latin America and emerging in Africa. Patterns of diffusion over regions mirror the supermarket revolution but are lagged by several decades. E‐commerce firms employ strategies to "fast‐track" their spread, responding to challenges of high transaction costs, heterogeneous consumers, and persisting importance of retail small and medium enterprises. Over the past 10–15 years, e‐commerce firms in developing regions have fast‐tracked their adaptation to these challenges by bundling services as well as partnering with retail SMEs and delivery intermediaries.

The International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR) held its 15th annual conference near Rome, Italy in June 2011. The theme of the conference was sustainability, and this topic was addressed through numerous presentations from academia, government, and industry. Numerous presentations from developing countries highlighted the adoption benefits of the biotechnologies in these countries.

The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research held its 13th annual conference in Ravello, Italy in June 2009. The theme of the conference was the bioeconomy, and this topic was addressed through research presentations from academia, government, and industry. Numerous presentations from developing countries highlighted the benefits of agricultural biotechnology in these nations. The broad range of presentations provided a wealth of insights, resulting in three policy recommendations regarding future funding, international regulation, and technology transfer.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. The Roots of Agricultural Innovation: Patent Evidence of Knowledge Spillovers -- 2. Quantifying Heterogeneous Returns to Genetic Selection: Evidence from Wisconsin Dairies -- 3. Yield Performance of Corn under Heat Stress: A Comparison of Hybrid and Open-Pollinated Seeds during a Period of Technological Transformation, 1933–55 -- 4. Local Effects of Land Grant Colleges on Agricultural Innovation and Output -- 5. Academic Engagement, Commercialization, and Scholarship: Empirical Evidence from Agricultural and Life Scientists at US Land Grant Universities -- 6. Venture Capital and the Transformation of Private R&D for Agriculture -- Contributors -- Author Index -- Subject Index