A Structural Land-Use Analysis of Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change: A Proactive Approach

This article proposes a proactive approach for analyzing agricultural adaptation to climate change wherein agricultural production technologies are regarded as potential targets of research and development (R&D) efforts. We develop a structural land-use model wherein farmers maximize profit by allocating their land among crop-technology bundles. Proactive R&D directions are derived by identifying the technological attributes through which climate change reduces overall agricultural profitability, despite farmers reallocating their land into bundles. We find that in Israel, long-term losses stem from increases in crops' input requirements and changes in the inter- and intra-annual distribution of precipitations. Therefore, we identify these vulnerable points as the main potential targets of further R&D efforts. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.