James Gerber
Biographic Data
| ID | 3960483 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James Gerber |
| GIVEN NAMES | James |
| FAMILY NAME | Gerber |
| SIGNATURE | GERBER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | San Diego State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1755-5072 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Borders and Markets: Do Economists Study Borders
Economics is a major social science, but not a major discipline in border studies. Over the last ten years, approximately 6 percent of the articles published in the Journal of Borderlands Studies can be considered economics papers. The share of economics books reviewed in the journal was an even smaller 1.1 percent. Political science, anthropology, geography sociology, and their subfields all have a much greater presence in border studies. There …
A people-first approach to achieving global climate and nature goals
Navigating sustainability trade-offs in global beef production
Does Mexico need free trade with the United States
Free trade between the United States and Mexico is credited with having developed one of the largest bilateral trading relationships in the world. Yet Mexico-United States trade has been significant for more than a century. Our objective is to show how bilateral trade increased independently of the trade agreement that took effect in 1994, and to specify the other reasons why trade grew. We measure trade flows from the 1880s to the present and es…
Research priorities for global food security under extreme events
Extreme events, such as those caused by climate change, economic or geopolitical shocks, and pest or disease epidemics, threaten global food security. The complexity of causation, as well as the myriad ways that an event, or a sequence of events, creates cascading and systemic impacts, poses significant challenges to food systems research and policy alike. To identify priority food security risks and research opportunities, we asked experts from …
Unequal Neighbors: Place Stigma and the Making of a Local Border
Unequal Neighbors: Place Stigma and the Making of a Local Border." Journal of Borderlands Studies, 38(1), pp. 185–186
The US Panic of 1907 and the Coming of the Mexican Revolution
Speculation about the causal relationship between the US panic of 1907 and the Mexican Revolution of 1910 has generated many hypotheses. We review the hypotheses of contemporary observers and recent historians. Our analysis begins with a timeline of events in both countries and then examines the available data for activities that are theoretically possible avenues for the international transmission of economic events, including trade and investme…
Governed and ungoverned integration in the Mexico–US border region
English abstract: US cities and towns on the border with Mexico tend to have below-average incomes, while Mexican border cities and towns tend to be above the average of Mexico. Social scientists have not explained these differences from national averages in a convincing way. Nor have they described the characteristics of border cities and towns in ways that differentiate them from cities and towns in the interiors of their respective nation. The…
The US-Mexico Border Human Development Index, 1990–2015: Improvements but Still Large Gaps
This paper uses Mexico's 2015 Inter-census Survey, the US's American Community Survey, and publicly available data on health, education, and the economy to update the Border Human Development Index (BHDI). The purpose of this index is to provide time series and cross sections of comparative measures of well-being in the states, counties and municipios that line the US-Mexico Border. For the time period spanned by the sample, 1990–2015, we find th…
Pathways for recent Cerrado soybean expansion: Extending the soy moratorium and implementing integrated crop livestock systems with soybeans
The Brazilian Soy Moratorium has effectively reduced forest conversion for soybeans in Amazonia. \nThis has come at the expense of the region’s pasturelands, which have increasingly ceded space for \ncompliant soy expansion. The question of extending the policy to the Cerrado, where recent soy \nexpansion has come at the cost of ecologically valuable vegetation, plugs into a wider discussion on \nhow to reconcile competing commodities on finite a…
The vulnerabilities of agricultural land and food production to future water scarcity
We examine risks to current agricultural land to future changes in water availability. • We present a multiple model inter-comparison of future land demand and water availability. • Eleven percent of croplands and ten percent of grasslands are at risk from declining water availability. • Changes in diet and waste reduction offer a buffer against land loss and food insecurity. Rapidly increasing populations coupled with increased food demand requi…
Balancing tradeoffs: Reconciling multiple environmental goals when ecosystem services vary regionally
As the planet’s dominant land use, agriculture often competes with the preservation of natural systems that provide globally and regionally important ecosystem services. How agriculture impacts ecosystem service delivery varies regionally, among services being considered, and across spatial scales. Here, we assess the tradeoffs between four ecosystem services—agricultural production, carbon storage, biophysical climate regulation, and biodiversit…
Progress towards sustainable intensification in China challenged by land-use change
Agriculture and Rural Connections in the Pacific
Subnational distribution of average farm size and smallholder contributions to global food production
Smallholder farming is the most prevalent form of agriculture in the world, supports many of the planet’s most vulnerable populations, and coexists with some of its most diverse and threatened landscapes. However, there is little information about the location of small farms, making it difficult both to estimate their numbers and to implement effective agricultural, development, and land use policies. Here, we present a map of mean agricultural a…
Nitrogen use in the global food system: Past trends and future trajectories of agronomic performance, pollution, trade, and dietary demand
de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publis ou non, manant des tablissements d'enseignement et de recherche franais ou trangers, des laboratoires publics ou privs
The US-Mexico Border Human Development Index, 1990–2010
This paper updates the Border Human Development Index (BHDI), a quality of life index for comparing well-being in municipios [Mexican sub-state administrative units] and counties along the US-Mexico border from 1990 to 2010. The index, first published in 2004, is updated to include the 2010 census data. Empirical estimations show that the gap between the US and Mexican BHDI increased during the 2000–2010 decade. Many of the employment and income …
Consecuencias económicas de los regímenes financieros: Una nueva perspectiva de las políticas bancarias de México y Brasil, 1890-1910
Este trabajo compara las consecuencias de las diversas políticas financieras adoptadas en México y en Brasil en las últimas décadas antes de la primera guerra mundial. En la década de 1890, los gobiernos nacionales de México y Brasil persiguieron sorprendentemente diferentes políticas de regulación bancaria. En Brasil, después de la caída de la monarquía, las autoridades experimentaron brevemente con la liberalización financiera. En México, en la…
A tradeoff frontier for global nitrogen use and cereal production
Nitrogen fertilizer use across the world’s croplands enables high-yielding agricultural production, but does so at considerable environmental cost. Imbalances between nitrogen applied and nitrogen used by crops contributes to excess nitrogen in the environment, with negative consequences for water quality, air quality, and climate change. Here we utilize crop input-yield models to investigate how to minimize nitrogen application while achieving c…
Redefining agricultural yields: From tonnes to people nourished per hectare
Worldwide demand for crops is increasing rapidly due to global population growth, increased biofuel production, and changing dietary preferences. Meeting these growing demands will be a substantial challenge that will tax the capability of our food system and prompt calls to dramatically boost global crop production. However, to increase food availability, we may also consider how the world’s crops are allocated to different uses and whether it i…
Assessing the comparative productivity advantage of bioenergy feedstocks at different latitudes
We evaluate the comparative productivity of maize and sugarcane biofuel feedstocks as a function of latitude. Solar radiation for photosynthesis varies by latitude and contributes to differential productivity of tropical and temperate zones. We calculate comparative productivity in two ways—the amount of net sugar energy produced per unit area, and the amount produced per unit of net primary productivity (NPP). NPP measures the accumulation of en…
US Migration to Mexico: Numbers, Issues, and Scenarios
Standard methodologies for determining the number of foreign-born residents living in a nation cannot be used to count the number of US citizens living in Mexico primarily because US citizens are able to move back and forth between the two countries. In this article, data shortcomings are analyzed and a case study of a small coastal community is presented. Forty-four interviews of Mexican and US residents provide insight into issues such as resou…
Dying in the Law of Moses, Crypto-Jewish Martyrdom in the Iberian World
With the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and their subsequent expulsion/conversion in Portugal in 1497, the Jews of Iberia were forcibly converted to Christianity. Many—how many will never be known—attempted to remain Jewish in secret, thereby becoming subject to eventual prosecution by the Inquisition. In this learned and moving study, Miriam Bodian presents four cases of martyrdom drawn from the records of the Inquisition. The four cas…
The Gold Rush Origins of California’s Wheat Economy
Este ensayo explora el casi simultáneo desarrollo de la fiebre de oro y la producción de cereales en la década de 1850 en California. Modelos económicos predicen que la producción de bienes de consumo, como el trigo, no se puede expandir durante un auge del sector minero si existe una fácil disponibilidad de importación, debido a que los costos del trabajo y otros insumos son altos. Diversos historiadores han enfatizado los impactos de la inmigra…
A dataset for U.S.‐Mexico border research
This note describes a new dataset for research on the United States-Mexico border regions. The dataset forms the empirical core of the newly published book, Fifty Years of Change on the U.S.-Mexican Border: Growth, Development, and Quality of Life by Joan B. Anderson and James Gerber (2007), and is contained in 75 Excel files hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University. The files can be found at http://latinameri…
Progress towards sustainable intensification in China challenged by land-use change
The vulnerabilities of agricultural land and food production to future water scarcity
We examine risks to current agricultural land to future changes in water availability. • We present a multiple model inter-comparison of future land demand and water availability. • Eleven percent of croplands and ten percent of grasslands are at risk from declining water availability. • Changes in diet and waste reduction offer a buffer against land loss and food insecurity. Rapidly increasing populations coupled with increased food demand requi…
US Migration to Mexico: Numbers, Issues, and Scenarios
Standard methodologies for determining the number of foreign-born residents living in a nation cannot be used to count the number of US citizens living in Mexico primarily because US citizens are able to move back and forth between the two countries. In this article, data shortcomings are analyzed and a case study of a small coastal community is presented. Forty-four interviews of Mexican and US residents provide insight into issues such as resou…
Navigating sustainability trade-offs in global beef production
Governed and ungoverned integration in the Mexico–US border region
English abstract: US cities and towns on the border with Mexico tend to have below-average incomes, while Mexican border cities and towns tend to be above the average of Mexico. Social scientists have not explained these differences from national averages in a convincing way. Nor have they described the characteristics of border cities and towns in ways that differentiate them from cities and towns in the interiors of their respective nation. The…
A dataset for U.S.‐Mexico border research
This note describes a new dataset for research on the United States-Mexico border regions. The dataset forms the empirical core of the newly published book, Fifty Years of Change on the U.S.-Mexican Border: Growth, Development, and Quality of Life by Joan B. Anderson and James Gerber (2007), and is contained in 75 Excel files hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University. The files can be found at http://latinameri…
The Gold Rush Origins of California’s Wheat Economy
Este ensayo explora el casi simultáneo desarrollo de la fiebre de oro y la producción de cereales en la década de 1850 en California. Modelos económicos predicen que la producción de bienes de consumo, como el trigo, no se puede expandir durante un auge del sector minero si existe una fácil disponibilidad de importación, debido a que los costos del trabajo y otros insumos son altos. Diversos historiadores han enfatizado los impactos de la inmigra…
US Migration to Mexico: Numbers, Issues, and Scenarios
Standard methodologies for determining the number of foreign-born residents living in a nation cannot be used to count the number of US citizens living in Mexico primarily because US citizens are able to move back and forth between the two countries. In this article, data shortcomings are analyzed and a case study of a small coastal community is presented. Forty-four interviews of Mexican and US residents provide insight into issues such as resou…
Dying in the Law of Moses, Crypto-Jewish Martyrdom in the Iberian World
With the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and their subsequent expulsion/conversion in Portugal in 1497, the Jews of Iberia were forcibly converted to Christianity. Many—how many will never be known—attempted to remain Jewish in secret, thereby becoming subject to eventual prosecution by the Inquisition. In this learned and moving study, Miriam Bodian presents four cases of martyrdom drawn from the records of the Inquisition. The four cas…
Assessing the comparative productivity advantage of bioenergy feedstocks at different latitudes
We evaluate the comparative productivity of maize and sugarcane biofuel feedstocks as a function of latitude. Solar radiation for photosynthesis varies by latitude and contributes to differential productivity of tropical and temperate zones. We calculate comparative productivity in two ways—the amount of net sugar energy produced per unit area, and the amount produced per unit of net primary productivity (NPP). NPP measures the accumulation of en…
Redefining agricultural yields: From tonnes to people nourished per hectare
Worldwide demand for crops is increasing rapidly due to global population growth, increased biofuel production, and changing dietary preferences. Meeting these growing demands will be a substantial challenge that will tax the capability of our food system and prompt calls to dramatically boost global crop production. However, to increase food availability, we may also consider how the world’s crops are allocated to different uses and whether it i…
A tradeoff frontier for global nitrogen use and cereal production
Nitrogen fertilizer use across the world’s croplands enables high-yielding agricultural production, but does so at considerable environmental cost. Imbalances between nitrogen applied and nitrogen used by crops contributes to excess nitrogen in the environment, with negative consequences for water quality, air quality, and climate change. Here we utilize crop input-yield models to investigate how to minimize nitrogen application while achieving c…
Consecuencias económicas de los regímenes financieros: Una nueva perspectiva de las políticas bancarias de México y Brasil, 1890-1910
Este trabajo compara las consecuencias de las diversas políticas financieras adoptadas en México y en Brasil en las últimas décadas antes de la primera guerra mundial. En la década de 1890, los gobiernos nacionales de México y Brasil persiguieron sorprendentemente diferentes políticas de regulación bancaria. En Brasil, después de la caída de la monarquía, las autoridades experimentaron brevemente con la liberalización financiera. En México, en la…
Subnational distribution of average farm size and smallholder contributions to global food production
Smallholder farming is the most prevalent form of agriculture in the world, supports many of the planet’s most vulnerable populations, and coexists with some of its most diverse and threatened landscapes. However, there is little information about the location of small farms, making it difficult both to estimate their numbers and to implement effective agricultural, development, and land use policies. Here, we present a map of mean agricultural a…
Nitrogen use in the global food system: Past trends and future trajectories of agronomic performance, pollution, trade, and dietary demand
de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publis ou non, manant des tablissements d'enseignement et de recherche franais ou trangers, des laboratoires publics ou privs
The US-Mexico Border Human Development Index, 1990–2010
This paper updates the Border Human Development Index (BHDI), a quality of life index for comparing well-being in municipios [Mexican sub-state administrative units] and counties along the US-Mexico border from 1990 to 2010. The index, first published in 2004, is updated to include the 2010 census data. Empirical estimations show that the gap between the US and Mexican BHDI increased during the 2000–2010 decade. Many of the employment and income …
Agriculture and Rural Connections in the Pacific
Balancing tradeoffs: Reconciling multiple environmental goals when ecosystem services vary regionally
As the planet’s dominant land use, agriculture often competes with the preservation of natural systems that provide globally and regionally important ecosystem services. How agriculture impacts ecosystem service delivery varies regionally, among services being considered, and across spatial scales. Here, we assess the tradeoffs between four ecosystem services—agricultural production, carbon storage, biophysical climate regulation, and biodiversit…
Progress towards sustainable intensification in China challenged by land-use change
Pathways for recent Cerrado soybean expansion: Extending the soy moratorium and implementing integrated crop livestock systems with soybeans
The Brazilian Soy Moratorium has effectively reduced forest conversion for soybeans in Amazonia. \nThis has come at the expense of the region’s pasturelands, which have increasingly ceded space for \ncompliant soy expansion. The question of extending the policy to the Cerrado, where recent soy \nexpansion has come at the cost of ecologically valuable vegetation, plugs into a wider discussion on \nhow to reconcile competing commodities on finite a…
The vulnerabilities of agricultural land and food production to future water scarcity
We examine risks to current agricultural land to future changes in water availability. • We present a multiple model inter-comparison of future land demand and water availability. • Eleven percent of croplands and ten percent of grasslands are at risk from declining water availability. • Changes in diet and waste reduction offer a buffer against land loss and food insecurity. Rapidly increasing populations coupled with increased food demand requi…
Governed and ungoverned integration in the Mexico–US border region
English abstract: US cities and towns on the border with Mexico tend to have below-average incomes, while Mexican border cities and towns tend to be above the average of Mexico. Social scientists have not explained these differences from national averages in a convincing way. Nor have they described the characteristics of border cities and towns in ways that differentiate them from cities and towns in the interiors of their respective nation. The…
The US-Mexico Border Human Development Index, 1990–2015: Improvements but Still Large Gaps
This paper uses Mexico's 2015 Inter-census Survey, the US's American Community Survey, and publicly available data on health, education, and the economy to update the Border Human Development Index (BHDI). The purpose of this index is to provide time series and cross sections of comparative measures of well-being in the states, counties and municipios that line the US-Mexico Border. For the time period spanned by the sample, 1990–2015, we find th…
The US Panic of 1907 and the Coming of the Mexican Revolution
Speculation about the causal relationship between the US panic of 1907 and the Mexican Revolution of 1910 has generated many hypotheses. We review the hypotheses of contemporary observers and recent historians. Our analysis begins with a timeline of events in both countries and then examines the available data for activities that are theoretically possible avenues for the international transmission of economic events, including trade and investme…
Does Mexico need free trade with the United States
Free trade between the United States and Mexico is credited with having developed one of the largest bilateral trading relationships in the world. Yet Mexico-United States trade has been significant for more than a century. Our objective is to show how bilateral trade increased independently of the trade agreement that took effect in 1994, and to specify the other reasons why trade grew. We measure trade flows from the 1880s to the present and es…
Research priorities for global food security under extreme events
Extreme events, such as those caused by climate change, economic or geopolitical shocks, and pest or disease epidemics, threaten global food security. The complexity of causation, as well as the myriad ways that an event, or a sequence of events, creates cascading and systemic impacts, poses significant challenges to food systems research and policy alike. To identify priority food security risks and research opportunities, we asked experts from …
Unequal Neighbors: Place Stigma and the Making of a Local Border
Unequal Neighbors: Place Stigma and the Making of a Local Border." Journal of Borderlands Studies, 38(1), pp. 185–186
Navigating sustainability trade-offs in global beef production
A people-first approach to achieving global climate and nature goals
Borders and Markets: Do Economists Study Borders
Economics is a major social science, but not a major discipline in border studies. Over the last ten years, approximately 6 percent of the articles published in the Journal of Borderlands Studies can be considered economics papers. The share of economics books reviewed in the journal was an even smaller 1.1 percent. Political science, anthropology, geography sociology, and their subfields all have a much greater presence in border studies. There …
Geography (18 works) · Economics (16 works) · Political science (10 works) · Agriculture (9 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Environmental Science (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Production (economics (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Population (6 works)