bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of eliminating government interventions on China's rice sector
Authors: Fan Shenggen , Wailes Eric , Cramer Gail 
Published: January 2020

AbstractChina's economy has undergone fundamental changes since 1978. Agriculture, industry and services are being transformed into market economies. Marketing and domestic trade have also been reformed to take into account regional comparative advantages. The government, however, still controls input supply and output procurement to some extent. China is currently negotiating with the GATT in regard to gaining membership. Conditions for China's reentering the GATT are to eliminate the government interventions on domestic production and consumption, and international trade. This may affect China's comparative advantages in international markets, and therefore may result in changes in the structure of imports and exports. Will China continue to export rice or will it start to import rice under free trade, and if China continues to export, how much will China export? This paper attempts to model the potential effects of eliminating all government interventions on China's rice sector. We construct a rice industry model to facilitate our analysis. The model has three components, i.e., supply, demand, and price linkages. The estimated results are consistent with theory and are evaluated using several techniques. Results from model validation indicate that both static and dynamic models are reasonable and can be used to simulate effects of various government policies. Simulations are conducted to project China's rice economy to the year 2000. Two scenarios are compared: (1) continued current policy and (2) elimination of all government interventions. Eliminating all government interventions would increase production, stocks, and exports. Domestic consumption would decline due to the higher domestic prices from eliminating government subsidies on rice consumption. China would export more than 1.6 million metric tonnes of milled rice if there were no government interventions in the year 2000.
Determinants of agriculture's relative decline: Thailand
Authors: Martin Will J. , Warr Peter G. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractDuring economic development, agriculture declines as a proportion of aggregate national output. A number of theoretical explanations for this phenomenon have been advanced in the economic literature, but their relative historical significance has not been clear. This paper develops an econometric methodology to analyze this issue and applies it to time series data for Thailand. The study investigates the importance of relative commodity prices, factor endowments and technical progress as explanations for changing sectoral GDP shares of agriculture, manufacturing and services. It is concluded that the movement in Thailand's aggregate factor endowment relative to labor was the most important determinant of agriculture's relative decline.
Effects of agricultural production fluctuations on the Chinese macroeconomy
Authors: Ran Guanghe , In Francis , Dillon John L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBased on a macro‐model framed in terms of China's agricultural, industrial, government and household sectors, this paper aims to identify the effects of agricultural production fluctuations on the Chinese macroeconomy over the period 1949–89. Using annual national time‐series data, Granger‐causality tests indicate that fluctuations in China's agricultural production have been a statistically significant cause of changes in other types of Chinese macroeconomic activity. Impulse response analysis shows that shocks in China's agricultural production were followed by analogous responses in national consumption, industrial output, investment, exports and income which peaked with a two‐year lag and vanished after 6 years. Variance decomposition analysis indicates that changes in China's agricultural production were the most important determinant of changes in the level of national consumption and the second most important determinant of changes in the level of industrial production, national investment, exports and national income.
Estimation of dynamic maize supply response in Zambia
Authors: Foster Kenneth A. , Mwanaumo Anthony 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIncreased attention on government pricing policies among African nations leads directly to a need for information about producer responses to price adjustments. This is especially true in the case of Zambian maize production. Maize is the most important crop grown in Zambia. It accounts for more than 80% of the value of marketed food crops, is heavily relied on for subsistence consumption, and is a staple food in the diet of all Zambian citizens. This paper analyzes the aggregate price response of maize supply in Zambia using a dynamic regression analysis. As a result, short, intermediate and long‐run multipliers/elasticities are measured which can be used to analyze the effect of future price policy changes.It was found that a second‐order rational distributed lag model best fits the available data. Estimates of short‐run elasticities of supply for maize and fertilizer prices are 0.54 and –0.48, respectively. The corresponding estimated long‐run elasticities are 1.57 and – 1.44.
Restructuring of traditional farms and new land relations in Russia
Authors: Brooks Karen , Lerman Zvi 
Published: January 2020

AbstractUnder decrees defining the Russian program of land reform and farm restructuring from 1991 to early 1993, 46% of agricultural land in Russia was transferred from state to collective ownership; 80% of collective and state farms reorganized and most registered as shareholding structures. The number of independent private farmers exceeded 250000 in early 1995. Despite these changes, however, most farms reorganized as whole entities and members kept their land and asset shares in collective production. The paper reports the results of a survey undertaken in 1992/1993 of 2700 farm managers, farm employees, and private farmers in Russia, designed to elucidate changes at the farm level during the early stage of land reform and farm restructuring.
Introducing socioeconomic characteristics into production analysis under risk
Authors: Feinerman Eli , Finkelshtain Israel 
Published: January 2020

AbstractA theoretical framework is developed to study the effects of socioeconomic factors on farmers' risk attitudes and production decisions. No maintained assumptions about the individual's utility are required. A key element in this framework is the categorization of socioeconomic factors by their effect on the farmer's risk attitudes. A simple methodology for this categorization, based on the equivalence between the Arrow–Pratt measure of risk aversion and the probability of winning demanded, is proposed. The latter is illustrated with data collected in a survey of 180 Israeli farmers from 20 villages.
Fungicide use under risk in Swiss wheat production
Authors: Gotsch Nikolaus , Regev Uri 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe short‐run effects of fungicide application on economic risk and the effects of risk on fungicide use in Swiss wheat production are empirically explored. A quadratic production function model is developed. With the help of the moment‐based approach, marginal contributions of fungicides (representing controlled inputs) and of rain (representing uncontrolled inputs) to the variances of yield and revenue are analyzed.It is not possible to show risk‐reducing effects of fungicides on yield or revenue. At low rain quantities during the vegetation period fungicides have a statistically significant risk‐increasing effect on revenue. Increasing risk leads Swiss wheat growers to use more fungicide. This increase is statistically significant at higher levels of revenue. For example, when risk is doubled fungicide inputs are raised by 44% at the highest revenue quartile.
Farm size, relative efficiency and agrarian policy in Côte d'Ivoire: profit function analysis of rice farms
Authors: Adesina Akinwumi A. , Djato Kouakou K. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper examines the relative economic efficiency of small and large rice farms in Côte d'Ivoire using a profit function approach. No differences in the relative economic efficiency of small and large farms were found. This conclusion is robust under alternative model specifications. Agrarian reforms directed towards further concentration of landholding for large farms in Côte d'Ivoire cannot be justified based on economic efficiency. Results show that access to credit and use of modern rice varieties significantly increase profits. To improve technical efficiency of rice farms, an accelerated program to provide information, credit, improved seeds and other inputs is needed. When all the farms (i.e. large and small) are taken together, there is evidence of allocative inefficiency. Strategies are needed to remove such management related inefficiencies in rice production either through the development of a better market price information system or effective farmer‐oriented technical training programs by rice extension workers.
Dynamic relationships between US and Thai rice prices
Authors: Taylor Earl L. , Bessler David A. , Waller Mark L. , Rister M. Edward 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRelationships between the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) estimated World Market Price, the Thai milled rice price, US transportation‐adjusted cash rough rice price, and the Chicago Rice and Cotton Exchange rough rice futures price are examined for the 1987–1991 marketing years. Specifically, a cointegration analysis is used to address the pricing and informational efficiency of the respective markets. Testing indicates the system is described by two cointegrating vectors. The analysis preformed herein provides insight into the pricing performance of several world rice markets.
Nonparametric analysis of technical, pure technical, and scale efficiencies for food crop production in East Java, Indonesia
Authors: Llewelyn Richard V. , Williams Jeffery R. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractNonparametric analysis of technical efficiency for irrigated farms in the Madiun regency in the west‐central part of East Java, Indonesia is conducted using linear programming techniques. This procedure allows the relative technical efficiency for each farm to be determined and for inefficiencies to be decomposed into pure technical inefficiency and scale inefficiency and does not require restrictions or assumptions regarding functional form to be placed on the data.Farmers in Madiun generally are efficient relative to each other. Farmers operating inefficiently do so more often because of scale inefficiencies rather than pure technical inefficiencies. A majority of the farms operate in the region of decreasing returns to scale rather than increasing returns to scale. Farmer age, the level of diversification of cropping activities, and high school education were found to be related to technical efficiency in the rainy season under irrigated conditions. Other socioeconomic factors were not statistically significant.The results imply that inefficient farms use excessive levels of inputs, particularly nitrogen fertilizer. This is perhaps due to the lingering effects of past input subsidization policies, particularly of fertilizers, in Indonesia, or to risk‐reducing behavior. The results also imply that current government policies to encourage diversification of cropping practices in Java may lead to greater technical inefficiencies in production. In addition, extension education targeted to younger farmers with low levels of formal education would improve efficiency.
Technical change and irreversible investment under risk
Authors: Ekboir Javier Mario 
Published: January 2020

AbstractA stochastic dynamic model was constructed to analyze investment decisions of an individual farme under risk in the presence of legibilities, embedded technical change and indivisible capital. An analytical solution was obtained and its local behavior studied by numerical methods. Optimal investment is obtained by regulating the difference between the desired and actual capital stocks between two barriers that define an inaction interval. While the desired capital drifts between the barriers, no action is taken. If the desired capital touches the upper barrier, the farmer invests pushing the average efficiency of the actual capital stock up. This in turn raises the desired capital even higher and contracts the inaction interval. If these effects are strong enough, the farmer will invest again until the potential gains of the technological package are exhausted. If the desired capital falls enough, the farmer disinvests, pushing down the average productivity and expanding the inaction interval. Disinvestment continues until it slops either because the inaction interval becomes so wide that it is no longer optimal to disinvest or because the actual capital stock is so small that it is no longer profitable to produce.
Agricultural competitiveness: The case of the United States and major EU countries
Authors: Gopinath Munisamy , Arnade Carlos , Shane Mathew , Roe Terry 
Published: January 2020

AbstractGrowth in the agricultural GDP of four major European countries is compared with US agricultural growth for the period 1974–1993. The agricultural sector's relative prices are taken into account along with economy‐wide factor market adjustments. For Denmark, France, Germany and the UK, the effects of declining real prices and changes in input levels on growth in agricultural GDP are relatively small. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth appears to be the major contributor to European agricultural GDP growth. In comparison, TFP is the major source of growth in US agricultural GDP, but its rate of growth is lower than the European countries. In contrast, the declining real prices for US agriculture had a relatively large effect on its GDP. However, in recent years, the effects of declining real prices and declining rates of growth in TFP on European agriculture are relatively large. In the longer‐run, the relative competitiveness of US agriculture is largely dependent on its ability to sustain and increase growth in TFP.
Sensitivity analysis of normative economic models: theoretical framework and practical strategies
Authors: Pannell David J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe parameter values and assumptions of any economic model are subject to change and error. Sensitivity analysis (SA), broadly defined, is the investigation of these potential changes and errors and their impacts on conclusions to be drawn from the model. There is a very large literature on procedures and techniques for SA, but it includes almost nothing from economists. This paper is a selective review and overview of theoretical and methodological issues in SA. There are many possible uses of SA, described here within the categories of decision support, communication, increased understanding or quantification of the system, and model development. The paper focuses somewhat on decision support. It is argued that even the simplest approaches to SA can be theoretically respectable in decision support if they are applied and interpreted in a way consistent with Bayesian decision theory. This is not to say that SA results should be formally subjected to a Bayesian decision analysis, but that an understanding of Bayesian probability revision will help the modeller plan and interpret an SA. Many different approaches to SA are described, varying in the experimental design used and in the way results are processed. Possible overall strategies for conducting SA are suggested. It is proposed that when using SA for decision support, it can be very helpful to attempt to identify which of the following forms of recommendation is most appropriate: (a) do, V, (b) do either X or Y depending on the circumstances, (c) do either X or Y, whichever you like, (d) if in doubt, do X. A system for reporting and discussing SA results is recommended.
Technical efficiency in paddy farms of Tamil Nadu: an analysis based on farm size and ecological zone
Authors: Tadesse Bedassa , Krishnamoorthy S. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractDespite the wider application of efficiency analysis in Indian agriculture, little has been done on the investigation of intra and interecological variations, size differences and their interactions. However, ecological issues have paramount implications for the low‐input sustainable agricultural production. Furthermore, due to the various causes of efficiency, the age‐old size‐based debate on efficiency differences is not yet resolved. The present study examines the level of technical efficiency across ecological zones and farm size groups in paddy farms of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The study showed that 90% of the variation in output among paddy (IR‐20) farms in the state is due to differences in technical efficiency. Land, animal power and fertilisers have significant influence on the level of paddy production. Varying from 0.59 to 0.97, the mean technical efficiency was found to be 0.83. The use of F‐test in two‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and censored regression (Tobit model), with dummies for ecological zones, farm size groups and their interactions, has shown that, at mean level, the level of technical efficiency among paddy farms of the state differs significantly across agro‐ecological zones and size groups as well, The study further indicated that small‐sized paddy farms in zone II and medium‐sized paddy farms in zone III are represented by ecologically size‐biased production techniques; thus achieving higher technical efficiency.
Identifying international rice research spillovers in New South Wales
Authors: Brennan John P. , Singh Inder Pal , Lewin Laurie G. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe rice industry in New South Wales, Australia, has benefited from the international flow of germplasm, as have other industries. The aim in this paper is to identify those international flows, and to value their contributions to the industry. Analysis is made of the origins and Pedigrees of the rice varieties grown in New South Wales since the 1960s, and the contribution of different germplasm sources are identified, using the geometric rule of partitioning contributions. The analysis reveals that New South Wales has had a significant contribution from international sources, notably breeding programs in the USA. The analysis also reveals that the International Rice Research Institute has had no impact on the germplasm used in New South Wales rice varieties. The changes over time on the role of international germplasm flows arc also identified.
Potential of China's grain production: evidence from the household data
Authors: Huang Yiping , Kalirajan K.P. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis study investigates whether China has achieved its potential in grain production fully with the existing technology. A stochastic varying coefficients frontier approach is applied on recent household survey data of 1000 grain farmers covering the periods 1993–95. The results indicate that, on average, the actual grain outputs are about 15–35% lower than the potential output. The analysis has identified households' human capital stock, land size and market‐oriented reform as important factors contributing positively to grain production efficiency.
China and Taiwan access to the World Trade Organization: implications for U.S. agriculture and trade
Authors: Wang Zhi 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper investigates the impact of China's and Taiwan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on U.S. and world agricultural trade by means of a 12‐region, 14‐sector Computable General Equilibrium model for world trade and production. The simulation results show that integrating China and Taiwan into the global trading system could induce more competition on labor‐intensive Products and reduce their prices. It could drive up the demand for capital and skill‐intensive manufactured goods, thus further improving industrial countries' terms of trade. The expansion of labor‐intensive sectors in China could also induce contraction in agricultural exports from China and increase its net agricultural imports by as much as US$9 billion annually, causing food and agricultural exports from other regions to increase. Total U.S. food and agricultural exports could increase by about US$2.4 billion annually, with the non‐grain crop sectors gaining the most. The biggest winner from China's WTO accession is China itself. WTO membership could bring a net welfare gain of about US$30 billion a year for China, a substantial benefit compared with the gains for the USA (US$8.5 billion).
Transactional framework of sharecropping: empirical evidence
Authors: Chew Tek‐Ann 
Published: January 2020

AbstractChew [Chew. Tek‐Ann 1991 Share contracts in Malaysian rubber smallholdings. Land Econ., 67: 85–98; Chew, Tek‐Ann, 1993. The Transactional framework of sharecropping: further implications. Can. J. Agric. Econ., 41: 209–221.] proposed a transactional framework of sharecropping that accommodates both the Marshallian and the Cheungian equilibria. An important conclusion arising thereof is the hypothesis that Cheung's sharecropping equilibrium is the rarity while the Marshallian equilibrium is the norm. In this paper, we collated some recent evidences to verify this hypothesis. The evidences support the Marshallian equilibrium, thereby providing indirect support for the transactional framework of sharecropping.
The economics of on‐farm processing: model development and an empirical analysis
Authors: Ekman Sone , Andersson Hans 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRecent trends in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy suggest an increasing attention towards rural development issues. On‐farm processing may offer an alternative for diversification, income generation and rural development in the event of increasingly deregulated agricultural markets. In this study, the economics of on‐farm processing for the case of the Swedish potato industry is examined. An interregional partial equilibrium model is developed. Various stages of the potato marketing chain are explicitly modelled. It is empirically demonstrated that, in some regions, on‐farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Furthermore, it is shown that on‐farm processors are more robust towards import competition than bulk product producers. Hence, the results support the notion that small scale processing may contribute towards satisfying some of the objectives of an effective rural development agenda.