bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Farm size, productivity and returns to scale in agriculture revisited: a case study of wine producers in South Africa
Authors: Townsend R.F. , Kirsten J. , Vink N. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe inverse relationship between farm size and productivity has almost become a ‘stylised fact’ in the economic development literature. Most of the studies contributing to this preception have been Hawed by methodological shortcomings and the request is that these studies be treated with caution. Using recent farm survey data from the wine producing areas of the Western Cape of South Africa, this study attempts to overcome some of the methodological problems, distinguishing between partial and total productivity measures. Using data envelopment analysis, most of the wine grape producers were found to operate under constant returns to scale. Co‐operative membership seemed to overcome the economies of scale associated with processing and marketing. The inverse relationship between farm size and both land productivity and total factor productivity is weak, not consistently negative and differs between regions. Thus, caution must be used when advocating rural development policies based on the inevitability of an inverse relationship existing in all sectors and production regions of agriculture.
Tariff rate quotas: structural and stability impacts in growing markets
Authors: Abbott Philip C. , Paarlberg Philip L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper examines several aspects of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) as adopted during tariffication of agricultural policies under the Uruguay Round of GAIT. Quota rents and non‐tariff barrier effects may remain under TRQs, contrary to the objectives of the tariffication process. Further, price stability impacts of a TRQ are more complex than those for either tariffs or quotas, and under certain circumstances TRQs may be more stabilizing than either case, since TRQs truncate domestic production distributions much like price bands policies. This complexity results from the possibility of regime switching, and may reflect behavior under either a tariff, a quota, or a combination of cases. A TRQ policy may affect the timing of import decisions based on incentives created under quota allocation procedures envisioned for this institution. It may also allow increased imports as demand growth occurs because the quota is not necessarily a binding constraint. This means the above quota tariff is the critical policy instrument. An empirical study of Philippines port: imports illustrates these issues.
Middlemen and peasants in rice marketing in the Philippines
Authors: Hayami Y. , Kikuchi M. , Marciano E.B. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper reports the results of a field survey covering all links in the channel of rice marketing from farmers to consumers in Laguna Province, Philippines. The survey revealed a highly competitive nature of rice marketing in this area where the countless number of middlemen compete in the procurement of paddy from farmers for rice mills, leaving little room for monopoly/monopsony exercises. Intense competition was also found in wholesaling by mills to retailers as well as retailing to consumers.
Least‐cost cheap‐food policies: some implications of international food aid
Authors: Alston Julian M. , Smith Vincent H. , Acquaye Albert , Hosseini Safdar 
Published: January 2020

AbstractMany low‐income countries pursue cheap‐food policies in which consumers pay subsidized prices for bread, rice and other staples. This paper addresses the issue of why different governments select different food subsidy policies, using multiple instruments rather than a simple across‐the‐board subsidy to provide consumers with access to cheap food. It examines the optimal structure of cheap‐food policies in the context of a partial equilibrium model in which the country may he large in trade, and is able to combine import subsidies or tariffs, and output taxes or subsidies, to transfer income to consumers through the market. The model allows for a marginal opportunity cost of government revenues greater than one dollar. In addition, in the model, food aid from overseas may be either given away to the consumer, or given to the government for subsequent sale in the domestic market. The results indicate that only by happenstance will a country choose to use a pure consumption subsidy or a pure import subsidy to transfer income to consumers. In addition, an increase in international food aid does not necessarily lead the government to reduce producer and consumer prices for a commodity.
The effects of real exchange rate depreciation on stochastic producer prices in low‐income agriculture
Authors: Barrett Christopher B. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper considers the effects of real exchange rate depreciation on stochastic agricultural producer prices in low‐income agriculture. Conventional wisdom, that real depreciation achieved through nominal currency devaluation stimulates tradables production, does not universally hold in the presence of stochastic prices. In fact, real depreciation is only stimulative in two cases–importables that remain importable and nontradables that become exportable. GARCH estimation of time‐series price data on several commodities from Madagascar support the hypotheses generated by the analytical model.
Factors influencing adoption of land‐enhancing technology in the Sahel: lessons from a case study in Niger
Authors: Baidu‐Forson J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractTechnical change, through the introduction of land‐enhancing conservation technologies, is essential to economic growth in the Sahel. Tobit analysis was used to identify factors that motivate level and intensity of adoption of specific soil and water management technologies. The results show that higher percentage of degraded farmland, extension education, lower risk aversion, and the availability of short‐term profits are important for increasing the adoption and intensity of use of improved ‘tassa’ and half‐crescent shaped earthen mounds. Age and attitudes to differential gains between farm and non‐farm income showed no influence on adoption. Three main policy implications emerge from these findings. First, technologies should be targeted to locations that have large percentages ol degraded farmlands. The probability of adoption and intensity of use are likely to be high at such locations. Second, there is the need to provide extension education that demonstrates risk reduction capacities of conservation techniques. I his will make available information capable of stimulating adoption of land‐enhancing technologies. Finally, policy‐makers should not seek to target innovations to younger farmers because age has no relationship to adoption of the improved ‘tassa’ and half‐crescent shaped earthen mounds. Lessons from the case study have broad relevance to cropped areas in the Sahel.
Agriculture and economic growth in Ethiopia: growth multipliers from a four‐sector simulation model
Authors: Block Steven A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAgriculture accounts for over half of Ethiopian GDP, yet 'he case for agriculture as a focus of economic growth strategies must rely on identifying a set of intersectoral linkages through which agricultural growth contributes to the growth of nonagriculture in the Ethiopian economy. This article develops a four‐sector numerical simulation model of economic growth in Ethiopia which permits the calculation of macroeconomic growth multipliers resulting from income shocks to agriculture, services, modern industry, and traditional industry. The resulting growth multipliers are 1.54 for agriculture. 1.80 for services, 1.34 for modern industry, and 1.22 for traditional industry. These results depict an economy in which intersectoral linkages operate on a highly uneven basis. These limits are reflected in the wide disparity between sectoral growth multipliers and by substantial differences in the patterns ol their decomposition. The policy relevance of these findings relate, in part, to the distributional implications of growth in particular sectors. Poverty in Ethiopia is disproportionately rural. An income shock to agriculture is clearly the most progressive choice, indicating the need to highlight agricultural development in growth strategies for Ethiopia. Yet, the simulation results further indicate that doing so imposes relatively little trade off against total benefit. While a $1 service sector income shock generates $0.80 in indirect benefits, a $1 agricultural income shock still generates $0.54 in indirect gains‐a somewhat smaller benelit, but one likely to make the greatest possible impact on poverty reduction.
Modeling inter‐sectoral growth linkages: An application to U.S. agriculture
Authors: Gopinath Munisamy , Roe Terry L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractGeneral equilibrium and open economy trade theory are used along with time series data on the U.S. agricultural sector to provide insights into the structure of agricultural supply, factor returns and linkages to the rest of the economy. Output expansion and factor returns are found to vary depending on relative factor intensities, which we refer to as Rybczynski and Stolper‐Samuelson like effects. The effect of the rest of the economy, particularly the increase in price of services, is found to have relatively large negative impacts on agriculture. The short‐run effects of prices and factor endowments on growth in agricultural supply and factor returns are dominated by the long‐run effects of technological change.
A conceptual framework of adoption of an agricultural innovation
Authors: Ghadim Amir K. Abadi , Pannell David J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn this paper we present a conceptual framework of individual farmers' decisions on adoption of a new innovation, using the example of a new crop species. This framework overcomes the shortcomings of a number of previous studies. It represents the adoption of an innovation as a dynamic decision problem spanning at least several years. The model allows for generation of potentially valuable information from trialing the innovation. The value of such trials is due to development of skills (e.g. in agronomic management of a crop) as well as reduction in uncertainty about the innovation's long‐term profitability. The framework also includes the farmer's personal perceptions, managerial abilities and risk preferences in order to properly represent the adoption decision process. The influences of socio‐demographic factors within the framework are discussed.
Components of the wholesale bid‐ask spread and the structure of grain markets: the case of rice in India
Authors: Jha Raghbendra , Murthy K.V.B. , Nagarajan Hari K. , Seth Ashok 
Published: January 2020

AbstractWe investigate the market microstructure of the wholesale markets for rice in India. We propose a general method of splitting the wholesale bid‐ask spread into its three constituent components: the order processing costs, the adverse information costs and the inventory holding costs. The bid‐ask spread reflects the extent of information asymmetry and order imbalance in the market place. However, the dynamics of the bid‐ask spread can only be understood in terms of the movement of its components; hence the importance of isolating these components. We use Zellner's seemingly unrelated regressions to split the bid‐ask spread into the three components in the rice markets of 14 major centers in India. The results are then linked to the production and consumption patterns in the market areas covered by these centers.
The impact of perception and other factors on the adoption of agricultural technology in the Moret and Jiru Woreda (district) of Ethiopia
Authors: Negatu W. , Parikh A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe objectives of this study arc to examine both the significance of the impact of farmers' perceptions regarding new technology for the adoption decision and how perceptions themselves are influenced by the decision to adopt new technology. The study is based on data from 96 wheat farms in the Moret and Jiru woreda (district) of Ethiopia. The probit approach is used to analyse the adoption decision, while the variables relevant to farmers' perceptions are modelled using the ordered probit methodology. A simultaneous equations model combining the probit and ordered probit approaches provides a useful approach to modelling the two‐way relationship between perception and adoption. Variables such as farm size, farm income and soil type have a key role to play in the model. Perception is measured by eight different components and as there is a strong collinearity among these various measures, a principal components analysis is attempted to draw the best possible linear combination of variables.
Adoption of soil conservation: the case of the Philippine uplands
Authors: Lapar Ma. Lucila A. , Pandey Sushil 
Published: January 2020

AbstractSoil degradation in the sloping uplands of Asia is a serious problem that threatens the sustainability of agriculture. Although several soil conservation technologies have been developed and promoted, their adoption has not been widespread. A micro‐economic analysis of adoption of contour hedgerows by upland farmers in the Philippines is conducted to identify the factors that determine adoption. The empirical results show that adoption depends on several farm and farmer characteristics and the relative importance of these factors differs across sites. The high cost of establishment, maintenance and the loss of land to hedgerows are considered to be the major constraints to adoption by non‐adopters. The economics of the contour hedgerow system is found to improve substantially if crop intensification or cash cropping is possible. In addition to the need to develop a range of cost‐effective technologies, the study indicates that in the more marginal environments, on‐site benefits alone may not be sufficient to justify investment in soil conservation.
No Representation without Integration! Why Differentiated Integration Challenges the Composition of the European Parliament
Authors: Heermann Max , Leuffen Dirk 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis article provides a normative assessment of parliamentary representation in fields of differentiated integration in the European Union. Based on three criteria of legitimate democratic representation, autonomy, accountability and equality, we evaluate four alternative representation models. These models comprise (I) complete representation of all members of the European Parliament (MEPs), (II) insider representation through the creation of new, regime‐specific assemblies, and (III) partial representation without and (IV) with inclusive deliberative stages. We find that the current system of complete representation, while honouring the principle of equality, violates autonomy and accountability in areas of differentiated integration. We therefore advocate a model of partial representation: MEPs elected in opt‐out states should not take part in EP voting but should be invited to participate in the deliberative stages of parliamentary decision‐making. This reconciles the principles of autonomy, accountability and equality, at least as long as there is no truly European electoral system in place.
EU Cohesion Policy under the Media Spotlight: Exploring Territorial and Temporal Patterns in News Coverage and Tone
Authors: Mendez Carlos , Mendez Fernando , Triga Vasiliki , Carrascosa Juan Miguel 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis article explores the territorial and temporal patterns of EU cohesion policy media coverage. The topic content and tone of news are analysed using topic modelling and sentiment analysis techniques, which are applied to a new corpus of over 4,000 English and Spanish news stories from the period 2010 to 2017 across three territorial levels. In line with our theoretical expectations, we found significant differences in the tone used across territorial levels, with national and transnational levels being more negative than the regional level. While national and transnational media place relatively more emphasis on politicized EU topics, subnational media focus more on substantive policy topics corresponding with EU policy objectives. Furthermore, media reporting on the cohesion policy evolved significantly over time and reacted to external events, such as the euro and migration crises, as well as internal, country‐specific events, such as Brexit in the UK and corruption scandals in Spain. However, the tone of cohesion policy news is positive overall suggesting that the media can, in principle, contribute to public support for the policy and the EU more generally.
European Social Partners as Gender Equality Actors in EU Social and Economic Governance
Authors: Elomäki Anna , Kantola Johanna 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis article explores the role of a hitherto under‐researched set of actors – European social partners – in shaping the EU's gender equality policies and the conditions in which these policies are adopted and implemented. The positions of the social partners are analysed using three key policy issues of importance to gender equality: the initiative on work–life balance; the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Semester. We argue that social partners play a crucial role in shaping EU gender policy both within and outside social dialogues. They influence the form and instruments of the EU's gender equality policy; shape the meaning of gender equality and participate in the broader conflict between the EU's economic and social goals which is crucial for the future of the EU's gender policies.
A Clash between Creature and Creator? Contemporary Relations between the Pan‐African Parliament and the European Parliament
Authors: Theodoro Luciano Bruno 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis article assesses EU–Africa inter‐regionalism and the reception of EU norms by African actors, by investigating the relations between the European Parliament (EP) and the Pan‐African Parliament (PAP). By exploring this interparliamentary dialogue, the article draws attention to the contradictions of African perceptions on European integration, which is simultaneously seen as an inspiration and a neo‐imperialist project. The EP was considered a role model to the PAP and was also one of its main supporters. However, European involvement in African issues has not always been regarded as positive. Post‐colonial and pan‐African discourses found in African statements have reinforced their resistance to European engagement in African politics. After discussing these ambivalent narratives on the EU, this article addresses the way that these perceptions impact on AU–EU inter‐regional relations, arguing that these mixed views towards the Europeans have undermined the diffusion of EU norms and the levels of trust in this relationship, preventing the joint Africa–Europe strategy from attaining its ambitions.
Closed venereology wards in postwar Hamburg
Authors: Schochow M. , Bjoernsgard K. , Orzechowski M. , Steger F. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackgroundA number of research results on closed venereology facilities in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) have been presented in recent years. However, little is known about similar facilities in the Western Occupation Zones (WOZ) and in the early Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).MethodWe have researched the records of the State Archive in Hamburg. Subsequently, the analysed sources were evaluated using the historically critical method.ResultsThree closed venereology wards existed in Hamburg. Compulsory commitments were conducted according to a three‐stage procedure. In the immediate postwar period, the wards had barred windows and the doors were locked. Everyday life in the wards was initially determined by the postwar situation – poor facilities, poor hygiene, overcrowding. In the early 1950s, the number of beds was drastically reduced. The function of the wards consisted of isolation and medical care for the compulsorily committed persons. Medical care was in accordance with professional medical standards.DiscussionClosed venereology wards in Hamburg followed the tradition established during the period of the Weimar Republic. This becomes apparent both in terms of the legal framework and in terms of the structure and functions of the wards. Thus, they clearly differ from the closed venereology facilities in the SOZ and in the GDR. These facilities were established in the tradition of Soviet prophylactics institutions. The wards in Hamburg served as isolation and treatment centres, the facilities in the SOZ and in the GDR also had a disciplinary function.
European survey on acute coronary syndrome diagnosis and revascularisation treatment: Assessing differences in reported clinical practice with a focus on strategies for specific patient cases
Authors: Peultier Anne‐Claire , Venetsanos Dimitrios , Rashid Imran , Severens Johan L. , Redekop William K. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRationale, Aims, and ObjectivesWhile different imaging and treatment options are available in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) care, there is a lack of data regarding their use across Europe. We examined the diagnostic and treatment strategies in patients with known or suspected ACS as reported by physicians and identified variations in responses across European countries and geographical areas.MethodA web‐based clinician survey focusing on ACS imaging and revascularization treatments was circulated through email distribution lists and websites of European professional societies in the field of cardiology. We collected information on respondents' clinical setting and specialty. Reported percentages of patients receiving imaging or treatment modalities and percentages of clinicians reporting to use modalities in a range of clinical scenarios were analyzed. Statistical comparisons were performed.ResultsIn total, 69 responses were received (Sweden [n = 20], United Kingdom [n = 16], Northern/Western Europe [n = 17], Southern Europe [n = 9], and Central Europe [n = 7]). Considerable variations between geographical areas were seen in terms of reported diagnostic modalities and treatment strategies. For example, when presented with the scenario of a theoretical 45‐year‐old smoking female with a suspected ACS, 56% of UK clinicians reported to use coronary computed tomography angiography, compared to only 10% of Swedish clinicians (P = .002). Large variations were observed regarding the reported use of fractional flow reserve by physicians for non‐culprit lesions during invasive management of myocardial infarction patients (44% in Sweden, 31% in the United Kingdom, and 30% in Northern/Western Europe vs non‐use in Central and Southern Europe).ConclusionsIn this survey, respondents reported different diagnostic and treatment strategies in ACS care. These variations seem to have geographic components. Larger studies or real world data are needed to verify these observations and investigate their causes. More research is needed to compare the quality and efficiency of ACS care across countries and explore pathways for improvement.