Interactions between a changing agricultural landscape and regional trade

Liang, Xing

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109529 Copy

Description

Title

Interactions between a changing agricultural landscape and regional trade

Author(s)

Liang, Xing

Issue Date

2020-12-04

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Brazee, Richard

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Mendoza, Guillermo

Committee Member(s)

• Önal, Hayri
• Amacher, Gregory

Department of Study

Natural Res & Env Sci

Discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• agricultural trade
• land use
• von Thunen

Abstract

Over the past few decades, international trade including agricultural commodities has grown substantially both in physical volume and in value. International trade of agricultural products masks the true distribution of agricultural land services by importing and exporting agricultural goods through trade. This dissertation studies the agricultural landscape changes and environmental damages implications of increasing agricultural trade. Chapter 2 develops a spatial model that extends von Thunen theory with a focus on land use specialization. Using numerical simulations, we illustrate how agricultural land use would be changed in different locations due to regional trade. Chapter 3 focuses on another implication of the increasing agricultural trade, that is, resource intensification and the resulting environmental damages. We empirically analyze the relationship between important driving factors including land use specialization and intensification of production, and investigate the internalization of environmental damages from chemical fertilizers. Using Illinois county level data, a biophysical model is developed to analyze the internalization of environmental damages. The model specifically discusses the location effects on damage internalization as well as other driving factors. In Chapter 4, the impact of the agricultural specialization is further analyzed from the perspective of crop failure and systematic risks. The analysis focuses on the question of how systematic risk has been changes due to the specialization effect from international trade, that is, the increasing crop yield risk due to higher geographical correlations of crop yield failures.

Graduation Semester

2020-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109529

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Xing Liang

Owning Collections