The overall goal of our paper is to better understand the development of groundwater markets in northern China. In particular, we focus on the factors that determine the development of groundwater markets in our attempt to explain their 'breadth' and 'depth.' Based on a survey of 24 randomly...

Inefficient performance of irrigation systems not only leads to a waste of water resources, but may also affect agriculture production, especially in regions facing a water stress problem. In rural China, only 40% of the water allocated to irrigation is effectively used, a figure much lower than...

Paper replaced with revised version 06/03/08

Paper replaced with revised version 06/03/08

Inefficient performance of irrigation systems not only leads to a waste of water resources, but may also affect agriculture production, especially in regions facing a water stress problem. In rural China, only 40% of the water allocated to irrigation is effectively used, a figure much lower than...

Sustainable use of water resources in the face of population and economic growth is of great importance in northern China, as it is in much of the world. Rapid expansion of irrigated agricultural and urban demand is depleting groundwater and overexploiting surface water resources in northern...

Water shortages in important grain-producing regions of China may significantly affect China's agricultural production potential and international markets. Falling ground-water tables and disruption of surface-water deliveries to important industrial and agricultural regions have provoked...

When public goods are joint outputs of agricultural production, there is a trade-off between agricultural and non-agricultural provision of the public good. The principle of minimal price distortion in the reform of agricultural policies has led to a theoretical recommendation that public goods,...

Many developing countries are attempting to address the inequities of plant breeders' rights by incorporating farmers' rights provisions in their Plant Variety Protection legislations to reward the role of farmers' as conservers and enhancers of agro-biodiversity. Developing countries expect to...

In comparison to large-scale natural landscapes separated from extensively used agricultural production landscapes in North America or Australia, German and Central Europe landscapes are all charac-terised by predominantly agricultural landscapes with few "rests of nature". Due to the high...