bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
International Supply Response
Authors: Peterson Willis 
Published: January 2020

AbstractLong‐run aggregate agricultural supply elasticities obtained from conventional supply functions fitted to time series data tend to be relatively inelastic in the range of 0.1 to 0.4. I argue that these estimates substantially understate the true long‐run supply response in agriculture. Because of the lack of international input price data, implicit output/input price ratios are estimated from a production function assuming profit maximization. The estimation of an aggregate supply function utilizing these price ratios yields long run aggregate supply elasticities in the range of 0.90 to 1.19. These figures are substantially larger than those obtained from conventional supply functions fitted to time series data, but correspond closely to estimates reported in an earlier crosscountry study that used different price data for different points in time. The results imply that policies which distort domestic and/or world market prices of agricultural products cause greater output distortions in both the DCs and LDCs than are predicted by the small supply elasticities obtained from conventional supply estimation.
Agricultural Supply Response: A Survey
Authors: Rao J. Mohan 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper surveys the literature on agricultural supply response to prices in developing countries. Empirical estimates of elasticities depend both on the methodology adopted and on country‐specific factors relating to technology, economic structure and macro constraints. The paper seeks to establish some general conclusions on supply responsiveness within these limitations. Supply response to output prices at the aggregate and at the crop levels is considered first. Crop‐specific acreage elasticities range between zero and 0.8 in the short run while long‐run elasticities tend to be higher — between 0.3 and 1.2. Yield elasticities are smaller and less stable than acreage elasticities. Clearly, inter‐crop pricing can be relied upon to effect shifts in the commodity composition of agricultural output. Evidence also suggests that supply elasticities vary systematically with such factors as price and yield risks, multiple‐cropping, the importance of the crop, farm incomes, farm size, tenancy and literacy. The most controversial and important aspect of supply response is the effect on aggregate agricultural output of agriculture's terms of trade. Conventional time‐series estimates range from 0.1 to 0.3. A major cross‐country study reports an aggregate elasticity as high as 1.66. It is argued that cross‐country estimates are apt to exaggerate aggregate responsiveness while time‐series studies underestimate it somewhat. For LDCs, a tentative range of 0.4 to 0.5 seems plausible. Hence, the distributive effects of the terms of trade are likely to be more significant than the allocative effects. Asian evidence shows that only a third of the inter‐country differences in fertilizer use can be attributed to fertilizer price policies. Provided new technologies and infrastructure are in place, fertilizer subsidies can help in technology diffusion and in overcoming credit constraints. The choice between price supports and input subsidies will depend on a variety of country‐ or situation‐specific factors. Nevertheless, a significant general factor favoring price supports is that they can more easily be coupled with price stabilization goals than input subsidies. Though sparse, the available evidence on the response of marketed surplus suggests that price policy is not a reliable instrument for regulating inter‐sectoral trade.
Effect of Sugar Price Policy on U.S. Imports of Processed Sugar‐containing Foods
Authors: Jabara Cathy L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe relationship between U.S. and world sugar prices, and U.S. import demand for four categories of sugar‐containing products is examined. Results from econometric estimation indicate that U.S. intervention in the sugar market has helped to increase U.S. imports of some sugar‐containing products, but that increased disposable income has played a more important role. Although some developing countries have benefitted from U.S. sugar policy by increasing their exports of sugar‐containing products to the United States, U.S. sugar policy has helped imports from developed countries proportionately more than those from developing countries as a whole.
Development Assistance and Exports: The Case of the United States
Authors: Cummings Ralph W. , Dalrymple Dana G. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe relationship of development assistance and exports has been a controversial subject in recent years. U.S. public organizations feel that development assistance, particularly for research, while intended primarily and immediately to encourage economic development in low‐income nations, will also help increase the effective demand for agricultural exports. Some commodity‐oriented U.S. farm groups, on the other hand, see assistance primarily in terms of leading to increased competition for exports of their product. They would have the U.S.A. provide less international support for agricultural development and they have had some influence. While there has been considerable debate on the subject, this has not yet resulted in the development of an enlightened national policy. The paper attempts to sort out the facts and perceptions that have led to this situation and to provide some policy suggestions. Two important needs are for: (a) greater public understanding, and (b) strengthened domestic research and improved linkages between domestic and international research activities. Paradoxically, the latter point tends to be overlooked by some of the farm groups but is essential if the U.S. is to remain competitive in what is likely to become a more open international market in the future.
Role of Tractors, Tubewells and Plant Breeding in Increasing Cropping Intensity in Pakistan's Punjab
Authors: Tetlay Khaleel , Byerlee Derek , Ahmad Zulfiqar 
Published: January 2020

AbstractCropping intensity in the cotton‐wheat areas of Pakistan's Punjab is well below its potential, and also significantly lower than in neighbouring areas of India's Punjab. Analysis of annual cropping intensity indicates that access to irrigation water is the major factor explaining differences in cropping intensity in a cross‐section of farmers. Ownership of a tractor plays a lesser role in increasing cropping intensity, although official credit policy has emphasized tractorization over investments in tubewells. Analysis of season‐specific cropping intensity also indicates that lack of appropriate varieties for double cropping also constrain cropping intensity. It is estimated that cropping intensity could be increased by at least 30% through policies directed at improving water supplies and by promoting research on earlier varieties of cotton, maize and oilseeds.
Influence of Trade Policies on Price Integration in the World Beef Market
Authors: Dries Mark A. , Unnevehr Laurian J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe article develops three hypotheses about how policy interventions in major trading nations influence price integration in the world beef market. Simple correlation coefficients, tests for significant differences between coefficients, and Granger causality tests are used to test the hypotheses. First, segmentation between prices in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)‐free and FMD‐endemic countries is found, but it is much less than previously assumed. Second, European Community policies that closed the E.C. import market have isolated prices in the E.C. from other markets. These policies also led to greater integration among prices in FMD‐free and FMD‐endemic market segments by forcing exporters from both segments to compete directly in new import markets. Third, the U.S.A. is found to be the price leader in world beef markets, due not only to market size, but also to U.S. policies that allow transmission of price information from the U.S. market to the world market but not vice versa.
Empirically Testing the Law of One Price in an International Commodity Market: A Rational Expectations Application to the Natural Rubber Market
Authors: Goodwin Barry K. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe Law of One Price (LOP) is an important ingredient in theories of international trade and exchange rate determination. An important shortcoming of the existing empirical literature is that parity is typically assumed to hold contemporaneously. This overlooks the fact that international commodity arbitrage takes place over time as well as across spatially separated markets. Recognizing this fact, we expect to see parity holding for expected prices. A model which incorporates the expectations of commodity arbitragers is constructed and used to test the LOP in the natural rubber market. Results indicate that the inclusion of expectations may be of value when considering the LOP.
Peasant farmer behavior and cereal technologies: Stochastic programming analysis in Niger
Authors: Adesina Akinwumi A. , Sanders John H. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTPeasant farmers in Sahelian West Africa adjust to rainfall uncertainties in the agricultural season by making decisions sequentially as a function of the evolving rainfall patterns. Understanding such flexibilities in farmer decision‐making is central to technology introduction. This paper determines how sequential decision‐making under weather uncertainty affects the adoption and farm‐level effects of cereal technologies in Niger. The study also draws policy implications for a price floor to arrest the substantial fall in cereal prices in good rainfall years when farmers have more grains to sell. The methodology used is Discrete Stochastic Programming. This paper shows that the ability of peasant farmers to adapt cropping and resource‐management strategies to the rainfall patterns is the basis for their survival in this high‐risk environment. Model results show that by (a) carrying a portfolio mix of varieties of varying maturities, and (b) making sequential decisions based upon rainfall expectations, farmers can adapt to the production uncertainties. Breeding programs should therefore be diversified to develop not only early‐maturing cultivars, but also improved intermediate and long‐season varieties.
Econometric analysis of expected price formation
Authors: Tada Minoru 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe current report analyses the process of producers' expected price formation through the estimation of supply functions, using vegetables and green tea in Japan as an example.At first, theoretical analysis shows that the factors which transform the producers' expected price formation from the lagged expectation to the rational expectation are as follows: decrease in information price, increase in managerial ability and/or organizational innovation, rightward shift of supply curve, and increase in price elasticity in supply curve.Second, supply functions are estimated by using the price expectation formation which include the rational expectation and the lagged expectation as its extreme form.Consequently, producers' price expectations were found to approach the rational expectations in the case of Chinese cabbage, lettuce and green tea, whose supply curves show high price elasticities, and whose producers' organizations gather price information and monitor the production more than other crops taken in this paper.
The West Bank olive market
Authors: El‐Jafari Mahmoud 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTAn econometric model of the West Bank olive subsector was constructed for the period 1968‐85, to provide a means of assessing the technical and behavioural forces that regulate the supply of and demand for green olives. A system of demand‐and‐supply equations was estimated using the two‐stage least‐squares (2SLS) procedures. Farm prices of green olives were found to be significantly related to quantity and per‐head food expenditures. A reduced‐form solution to the structural model was derived to test the forecasting ability of the model to predict the endogenous variables when the exogenous variables are given. The model was used to determine the allocation of the West Bank olives which could maximize returns to growers. The model should be both a useful tool for policy makers and of practical value to decision makers in the olive industry.
Citrus blackfly in Florida: Eradication or bio‐control?
Authors: Tefertiller Kenneth R. , McKee Vernon C. , Perry Vernon G. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe citrus blackfly (CBF) invaded south Florida in January 1976. It was considered by scientists to be a major threat to the Florida citrus industry located in the central part of the state. The CBF was successfully contained in a 1000 square mile tri‐county quarantined area surrounding Ft. Lauderdale for several months before breaking out to an area near the commercial citrus production area.During this time federal and state research agencies were evaluating a bio‐control approach involving two tiny wasps which were introduced in south Florida in 1976 by the United States Department of Agriculture. By late 1978 it had become clear to most of the leading scientists and some of the industry leaders that the spray program for eradication was failing and that research showed conclusively that the bio‐control agents (two wasps) could be a permanent solution to the problem.After considerable deliberation, research administrators announced on 18 January 1979 that they were convinced that the CBF was under bio‐control and was no longer a threat to the citrus industry. Although there was some resistance to giving up the concept of eradication with a spray program, it was announced on 8 March 1979, that the regulatory agencies would abandon the initial goal of eradication for a containment program and in August 1979 all spray programs were terminated.The bio‐control agents have successfully kept the CBF under bio‐control for 10 years. It was a low‐cost, environmentally sound solution of a serious threat to the Florida citrus industry.The decision to support a bio‐control program was approved (although perceived by some to be risky in 1979) and resulted in millions of dollars in savings to the people of Florida. Furthermore, since the bio‐control agents continue to be well established in Florida at low levels, the state can be assured it will not be invaded again by CBF.The success of the CBF bio‐control program engendered an increased credibility in this approach to management of other foreign pests. Increased emphasis on bio‐control research will lead to more applications in Florida as well as worldwide with benefits of cost saving and reductions to environmental degradation.
Modelling to support animal health control
Authors: Dijkhuizen A.A. , Renkema J.A. , Stelwagen J. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTAnimal Health Economics is a relatively new subject, being developed to provide a quantitative insight into the economic effect of disease and disease control in livestock. Research in this field is focussed on both the further development of a more solid scientific framework of concepts and methods and its applications in quantitative model calculations. Three issues are especially of interest: (a) the losses of disease, (b) the profitability of preventive measures, and (c) the replacement decision of individual affected animals. All three issues concern complex problems, which have to be studied under imperfect veterinary knowledge and under a high degree of uncertainty. In this paper the basic economic framework and its applications in the underlying field are discussed and illustrated.
On‐farm computers for farm management in Sweden: potentials and problems
Authors: Öhlmér Bo 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe potential uses of on‐farm computers in management and the problems in these uses are analyzed. The analysis is based on a study of present uses of on‐farm computers in Sweden. The results are compared with experiences from other countries.On‐farm computer owners use almost the same management methods as before the computer investment. The main difference is that they used to hire service organizations to do some of the management tasks and now they are doing it by themselves with the aid of the computer. Thus, the on‐farm computer owners have to have the same knowledge level as the service agents and advisers.The use of on‐farm computers has so far affected the processing and storage of data for farm management purposes. A potential next step is communication of data from external computer systems at suppliers, customers, advisers and other farmers as well as automated data capture within the farm. One hindrance for this development is the lack of standardization of data and concept definitions. If this potential was realized the marginal costs of data and information would decrease. It would be profitable to use more information in the farm management, i.e. to develop the farm management functions. When farmers develop their management methods they will need still more knowledge. Service agents and advisers would have to change from doing management tasks for farmers to teaching farmers how to do these tasks and supporting farmers in the interpretation and analysis of information.
Concept and implementation of an integrated decision support system (IDSS) for capital‐intensive farming
Authors: Wagner P. , Kuhlmann F. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTDuring the evolutionary process of developing software for management tasks, the need for integration became more and more obvious. This paper discusses how integrated information processing can be accomplished to support the managerial functions. Based on the concepts of control theory principal schemes of comparison possibilities and deviation analysis are shown. The philosophy behind the design of an integrated decision support system (IDSS), the on‐farm implementation, and the integration problems of hardware and software are discussed. The applied IDSS consists of several planning and controlling models. These models and the linkages between them are described in detail.
Impact and implications of price policy and land degradation on agricultural growth in developing countries
Authors: Zhao Fengkun , Hitzhusen Fred , Chern Wen S. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTIn many developing countries, a high proportion of the population resides and works in rural areas. Agriculture is the dominant sector in rural areas and has the greatest concentration of poverty: landless workers, small tenant farmers, and small farm owners. Thus, any development strategy that is directed towards increasing employment and alleviating a country's hunger must concentrate on sustainable agricultural growth.Historically, economic development in most countries has been based on exploitation of natural resources, particularly land resources. Soil erosion and land degradation have been serious worldwide. Due to reasons such as high population pressure on land and limited fossil energy supplies, land degradation is generally more serious in the developing world. Empirical studies show that soil erosion and degradation of agricultural land not only decrease the land productivity but they can also result in major downstream or off‐site damage which may be several times that of on‐site damage.In promoting industrialization, governments of many developing countries adopt a package of price and other policies that reduce agricultural production incentives and encourage a flow of resources out of agriculture. Increasing evidence shows that these policies cause a substantial efficiency or social welfare loss, and a great loss in foreign exchange earnings. In addition, a World Bank study on the effect of price distortions on economic growth rates concluded that neither rich resource endowments, nor a high stage of economic development, nor privatization are able to make up the adverse effects caused by high price distortions.This analysis is primarily concerned with identifying the factors that determine the agricultural production growth rate and in testing the effects these factors have on agricultural growth in developing countries. Specifically, this study involves statistical estimation of an aggregate agricultural growth function based on cross‐country data for 28 developing countries. Special attention is devoted to land degradation and agricultural pricing policy, and to the policy implications resulting from the effects these variables have on agricultural and food production growth.The overall results of this study show that price distortions in the economy and land degradation had statistically significant negative impacts while the change in arable and permanent land was positively related to the growth of agricultural production and food production in 28 developing countries from 1971 to 1980. These results emphasize the importance of ‘getting prices right’ and implementation of sustainable land and water management practices if future growth in food and agricultural output is to be realized and sustained in developing countries.
Changes of the rice distribution and the functions of the food control system in Japan
Authors: Mishima Tokuzo 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTJapan's Food Control System was established in 1942 during World War II in order to cope with the shortage of food. The system has been maintained in order to secure a stable supply of rice, a staple food and key crop in the country. The functions and roles of this system change gradually according to fluctuations in the rice market. Since the establishment of the ‘voluntary rice‐marketing system’ in 1969, Japan's marketed rice has been classified into the following three types: (1) Government‐marketed rice (GM rice): the government purchases from rice growers and sells to wholesalers. (2) Voluntarily marketed rice (VM rice): rice assemblers' organizations sell directly to wholesalers. (3) Freely marketed rice (FM rice) which is an illegal practice. Recent trends have witnessed decreased sales of GM rice and increases in the sales of VM and FM rice, thus resulting in the weakening of government control of the rice supply.The goods markets for VM rice instituted in 1990 introduced to a greater degree the market mechanism of price controls for rice. At the same time, the government's control of rice distribution was relaxed to allow new access to rice dealers and to promote free trade between sellers and buyers. Although the Food Control System in Japan has changed significantly, it will be retained since it protects the rice supply and paddy field agricultural system.
A continuing evolution in U.S. agricultural and food policy ‐ The 1990 Act
Authors: Spitze R.G.F. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper reports the results of a study of the economic content and the decision‐making process of the recently adopted U.S. 1990 agricultural and food policy. It is the most comprehensive policy of its type. It represents the broadest participation of private individuals and interests groups, and will affect the economy of not only the United States, but also the ***economies of trading countries around the world.The study examines the economic conditions leading up to the policy, a theoretical foundation of public policy determinants, the role of economic analysis in that policy development, the provisions of the Act compared with the previous policy, and its extensive economic implications. Results of the study support features of a conceptual framework for economic policy of a participatory government. The study also reveals the unique policy process of the United States and the provisions of its price and income policy for the food and agricultural sector.Finally, this article identifies the interrelations between the 1990 policy and on‐going GATT negotiations, the emerging importance of environmental and food quality issues in agricultural and food policy, and sources for further study of this Act.