Towards a transformational hydraulic engineering project for the territory: A focus on the Working With People (WWP) model

Hydraulic engineering projects have traditionally been carried out from a predominantly technical point of view, which on occasions ignores the needs of the territory in which they are based and the possibilities that water resources provide as a development factor.The implementation of projects that were not adequately suited to the needs of the environment and its population has led to many issues that have directly had an effect on their implementation and operation. As a result, one of the objectives in recent years has been to resolve these issues; with many authors turning to participative models linked to social theory in order to achieve this. However, they have been unable to agree on a model or outline the objectives that the project should seek to achieve. This article explores how the use of a planning model based on social learning and the develop “by” people and not “for” people principle, Working with People, in a water supply hydraulic engineering project (PANIATS), implemented originally from a purely technical perspective, is able to strengthen it, facilitate understanding amongst the population and generate new projects associated with the original project such as the agricultural transformation of 2089ha of irrigable land. All of this leads to the creation of social capital and development that makes the project a transformational factor within the territory.     

张害与中国科学社交往补正——以《通海新报》报载文字资料为据

学者以往对张謇与中国科学社交往的研究存在缺失与错讹。民初南通县地方报刊《通海新报》报载文字资料至今未被充分利用，对二者交往各个阶段或方面的研究可起到改其陈说、或补其所缺与增其不足等补正作用，具有较高的史料价值。     

事业单位固定资产管理中存在的问题及对策

事业单位的固定资产管理工作一直受计划经济管理模式的影响,在实务中暴露出的弊端也日趋明显。主要表现在:对固定资产不计提折旧的核算体系和方法不能准确地反映事业单位真实财务运营状况;固定资产计价标准过低,分散了单位对重要固定资产的管理;购置固定资产的资金来源缺乏,一定程度地挤占了单位基本经费和国家专项经费;非经营性资产转为经营性资产的管理工作比较混乱;固定资产的有效配置和重新分配不到位;重购建、轻管理等反映出目前多数事业单位内部资产管理制度缺位、管理水平低下、资产运营效率不高等普遍性的问题。     

中国集体林产权制度改革回顾与展望

采用历史产权制度研究方法,利用详实的历史数据与信息,系统地分析改革开放以来中国集体林产权制度改革每个重要时期的改革内容与进程以及集体林地林木流转制度演化历程,发现改革开放四十年中国集体林所有权和家庭经营的基因没有变,变的是集体林地承包经营权的实现形式;指出集体林产权制度变迁道路中的困惑;提出未来集体林产权制度的选择路径。     

Consumers' Willingness to Pay for the Color of Salmon: A Choice Experiment with Real Economic Incentives

In most retail markets, sellers post the price and consumers choose which products to buy. We designed an experimental market with posted prices to investigate consumers' willingness to pay for the color of salmon. Salmon fillets varying in color and price were displayed in twenty choice scenarios. In each scenario, the participants chose which of two salmon fillets they wanted to buy. To induce real economic incentives, each participant drew one binding scenario; the participants then had to buy the salmon fillet they had chosen in their binding scenario. The choice data were analyzed with a mixed logit model.     

Consumers' willingness to pay for organic rice: Insights from a non-hypothetical experiment in Indonesia

As in many high-income countries, there is increasing awareness towards organic farming in many low- and middle-income countries. Sustained local demand is an essential requirement for further adoption of organic farming by smallholders, who typically have only limited access to export markets. Until now, only few studies have explored the local willingness to pay (WTP) for organic products in low- and middle-income countries in real purchase situations. This paper analyses the consumers' WTP for organic rice in urban and suburban Indonesia using an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) approach. We further study the effect of income and a randomised information treatment about the benefits of organic food on respondents' WTP. Estimates suggest that respondents are willing to pay an average price premium of 20% compared with what they paid for conventional rice outside our experiment. However, our results also indicate that raising consumers' WTP further is complex. Showing participants a video about health or, alternatively, environmental benefits of organic food was not effective in further raising WTP. The results can be used as a basis for the design of alternative awareness measures to increase knowledge, interest and demand for organic food.     

Protester or non‐protester: a binary state? On the use (and non‐use) of latent class models to analyse protesting in economic valuation*

In the analysis of stated preferences studies, it is often assumed that protesting is a discretely measured item only occurring among those who are not willing to pay. However, various studies have recently shown that protest beliefs are as well held by respondents who state a positive willingness to pay (WTP). Using latent class (LC) models, we investigate the extent of heterogeneity with respect to protest beliefs among all respondents of two contingent valuation studies. The advantage of LC models is that classes of individuals are endogenously identified and no selection bias is introduced by ad hoc definitions of protesters. Further we investigate whether it is possible to identify a class of non‐protesters. Finding a group of pure non‐protesters could indicate how strongly stated WTP in the whole sample is affected by protest beliefs. For both samples, we find a class with strong protest beliefs but no pure non‐protest class. Overall, our results suggest that LC models might not be the first choice to determine unbiased WTP measures, but they provide valuable insights into the degree of protesting expressed by different groups and corresponding determinants of group membership.     

Factors Influencing a Potato Farmer's Choice of Seed Supplier

Abstract

Empirical evidence collected from comprehensive personal interviews with potato farmers in the Philippines reveals five factors that best explain a farmer's choice of seed supplier. Seed quality and the seed supplier's reputation are the two most important factors. Given the high cost of seed and the impact seed quality has not only on the current crop but any future potato crops derived from that seed, such is not unexpected. Results suggest that by providing technical support, enhancing offer quality and facilitating regular communication, it is possible for a proximal seed supplier to differentiate their product offer from alternative suppliers. Fortuitously, such investments are most appreciated by the larger potato farmers.     

Exploring customer heterogeneity with a scale-extended latent class choice model: Experimental evidence drawn from urban water users

The search for improved water pricing is central to urban water reform in many countries. Establishing efficient water prices is notoriously difficult, not least because different customers have different demands for water and yet they are presently faced with a one-size-fits-all approach to pricing and service. This is especially challenging where water availability fluctuates widely, as is the case in many parts of Australia, because the impacts of exposure to episodic periods of scarcity can differ markedly. There is now substantial interest in the notion of ‘unbundling’ the water product to provide a better fit between customers' preferences and the level of service received. Following this trend, this study provides important insights into householders' willingness to pay for a range of flexible water options using a choice experiment. The paper reports a relatively underemployed extension to the latent class modelling framework to investigate preference heterogeneity towards urban water products, including purchasing services that involve the provision of environmental and amenity outcomes. The work adds to studies that use choice data to reveal heterogeneity while improving our understanding of household customers' demands. Overall, it also brings into focus questions about the future management of water in urban contexts.     

Consumer Acceptance of Camel Milk in Emerging Economy

Abstract

Camel is considered as an indispensable part of desert eco-framework across the globe. Apart from helping in transport, it is also used for its milk. Camel's milk is used worldwide because of its salty taste. However, it has many beneficial effects such as cure for autism and helps to control diabetes, allergy, and also prevents liver cirrhosis. Objective of this study is to analyze the ways to make people purchase and consume camel milk. In the last few years, awareness about nutritional and medicinal benefits of camel milk has rapidly increased. Consequently, the demand of the product has also increased. Objective of this article is to analyze the consumers’ willingness to buy camel milk before and after knowing its health benefits. It also explores the linkage between lifestyle diseases and consumer’s willingness to buy. We analyzed data in two stages. Initially, we did qualitative analysis with twitter text mining to understand customer’s sentiments about camel milk. Later, primary data was collected through structured questionnaire from a sample of 120 respondents by convenience sampling for quantitative analysis. There is a significant increase in the proportion of people willing to buy camel milk and once they were aware of the benefits, people are willing to buy more after knowing the benefits. People exposed to lifestyle diseases are more willing to buy camel milk. Hence, support of market-based awareness campaigns to stimulate demand for quality camel milk among consumers can be realized through information dissemination and awareness campaign.     

Public space,private development and community welfare

Summary

The focus of this paper is on the public spaces associated with certain private developments, e.g. plazas, arcades, atria, etc. In many urban settings these spaces have become important amenities in their own right, with indoor spaces, in particular, often providing extensive and climatically controlled recreational opportunities free from the uncertainties of the external environment. Given the ‘public goods’ characteristics of these spaces, it is suggested that they deserve more detailed scrutiny since the potential ‘welfare’ benefits from increased provision might be considerable. To this end, it is argued that the planning authorities have both the duty and the power to ‘encourage’ private developers to not only extend provision but also improve accessibility.     

基于行为决策理论的宅基地退出影响因素分析——甘肃省654户调查数据的实证

文章根据甘肃省654户农户问卷调查数据,基于行为决策理论,运用Probit模型和结构方程模型揭示了农户宅基地退出的影响因素。研究结果表明:农户的文化程度差异、是否在外非农务工、是否有城镇户口等自身特征的不同,会使他们对退出宅基地的态度产生差异;农户的从众示范效应和退出宅基地后不确定性风险对农户宅基地退出意愿影响最大,是影响农户退出宅基地意愿的主导因素;宅基地的禀赋效应也显著影响农户宅基地退出。相关政策建议:(1)从社保、就业和宅基地退出后生活支出三个方面减少农户宅基地退出后的不确定性风险,从而消除其宅基地退出后顾之忧;(2)利用农户的从众示范效应分批退出;(3)采取多样化的退出补偿方式。     

Ex post impacts of improved maize varieties on poverty in rural Ethiopia

Public agricultural research has been conducted in Africa for decades. While many studies have examined its aggregate impacts, few have investigated how it affects the poor. This paper helps fill this gap by applying a new procedure to explore the ex post impacts of improved maize varieties on poverty in rural Ethiopia. Plot‐level yield and cost changes due to adoption are first estimated using instrumental variable and marginal treatment effect techniques where possible heterogeneity is carefully accounted for. A backward derivation procedure is then developed to link treatment effect estimates with an economic surplus model to identify the counterfactual household income that would have existed without improved maize varieties. Poverty impacts are finally estimated by exploiting the differences between observed and counterfactual income distributions. Improved maize varieties have led to a 0.8–1.3 percentage drop of poverty headcount ratio and relative reductions of poverty depth and severity. However, poor producers benefit the least from adoption due to the smallness of their land holdings.     

Organic‐ and Animal Welfare‐labelled Eggs: Competing for the Same Consumers?

To understand the market for sustainable foods, it is important to allow for heterogeneous preferences. However, most studies of consumer preferences for sustainable foods only investigate average consumer preferences. They do not take into account that some consumer segments attempt to purchase as much sustainable food as possible, others are almost indifferent to the notion of sustainable food, and still others consider sustainable food a complete hoax. The aim of this study is to explore the preferences for various types of premium eggs across three consumer segments. We conduct a choice experiment including 900 Norwegian consumers and perform a behavioural segmentation based on the frequency of organic food purchase. We find that the segment purchasing the most organic food is, as expected, willing to pay a significant premium for organic eggs over eggs displaying only enhanced animal welfare. However, most consumers, who only occasionally purchase organic products, are unwilling to pay more for organic eggs than for enhanced animal welfare eggs, suggesting diminishing marginal utility for additional attributes. We find that a third consumer segment attempts to avoid organic eggs, even when they cost the same as other eggs. Our findings suggest that organic products will be unsuccessful in acquiring a larger share of the market as long as most consumers are unwilling to pay a premium for organic products with all their cost increasing sustainable attributes over products that have only a single sustainable attribute, in our case enhanced animal welfare.     

多酚对美拉德反应中丙烯酰胺等有害衍生物的影响研究

美拉德反应是食品热加工过程中极为普遍且不可或缺的反应,也是使食品增添香味与色泽的基本过程,但在此过程中会产生丙烯酰胺等有害衍生物,这些衍生物存在一定毒性,极易产生食品安全问题。一种普遍存在于植物体内的抗氧性化合物多酚,在美拉德反应过程中具备改变化学生成物的作用,但是具体的干预机理还未明确。本文从美拉德反应基本原理出发,细致研究美拉德反应及其有害衍生物情况,通过列举多酚及与之对应的具体影响情况,设定相应条件,以达到更具探索性的研究。     

European Agriculture in Transition

The uncertainties facing European agriculture have rarely been greater. The combination of the Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the agricultural negotiations in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the impact on agricultural trade of the liberalisation of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies produce a greater set of challenges than at any other time this century. These three sets of issues have four features in common. First, they are all of such a scale that they could have signifcant effects on the economic circumstances facing European farmers. Second, they are intensely political and thus the outcome is extremely difficult to predict. Third, they all involve processes which will span several years, they are not once-off events. Fourth, they all move in the direction of increasing competitive pressures on West European agriculture. The paper proceeds in four parts. Parts one to three summarise the main components of each of the three issues and the scale and timetable of the changes they may bring about. The fourth part contains a discussion of the interactions between the three issues and assessment of the direction and magnitude of the effects of the changes. Anticipating the conclusions, imagine agriculture in the EC (and, mutatis mutandi, EFTA) as a basket of sikworm cocoons! Our farmers have already been through several stages of their metamorphosis. Having gorged themselves for decades on the mulberry leaves of taxpayer-provided subsidies, they are now cosily embraced in the tangled and extremely protective web of the CAP. For sound internal and external reasons, this protective shield of silk is being unwound. The result will be an industry which is more exposed to the elements. The environment facing farmers will be less certain, more variable, there will be more competition and less protection against predators. Many of the moths will not survive the harsh climate outside the cocoon. Equally, however the larger, better nourished and fitter ones will make it. They will ensure the survival of the species. But as is often the case in nature, many may perish in order that the rest survive. It is also likely to be the case that fewer of those who care for and supply to the silkworms will be required for this smaller, stronger, more productive surviving population.     

The history and development of agricultural and horticultural co‐operatives in East Anglia

This paper argues for a shift of emphasis from larger outlays on two major anti-poverty schemes - the rural public works (RPW) and integrated rural development (IRDP) programmes - to improvements in their design and implementation. Enhanced outlays do not matter much, as they tend to be mistargeted. More specifically, based on National Sample Survey data for 1987-88, neither RPW nor IRDP covered a large segment of the rural poor, while among their beneficiaries the shares of the (relatively) well-off were not negligible. However, the RPW was more effective in excluding the non-poor rather than attracting the poor. There has been a progressive weakening of targeting in both schemes as leakages to the non-poor rose. More of the poor are likely to benefit from RPW if the wage rate is lowered (relative to the agricultural wage), if a combination of piece and time rates is used and if wages in kind are discontinued. On the other hand, in the context of IRDP, there is a need to eliminate the interest subsidy, place greater emphasis on the reduction of transaction costs and to vest rights of land in women. Given the key role of the Village Panchayat in poverty alleviation, it is imperative that it is accountable to the village community. But above all, benefits to the poor from anti-poverty programmes depend ultimately on whether they have the collective strength to affirm their interests.     

Inefficiency due to tenancy protection: a new tenure problem in Taiwan

Fixed-rent tenancy was traditionally regarded as equally efficient as owner-cultivators. The counter-example is, however, presented here. Specifically, tenants with fixed-rent contracts and well protected by tenancy regulations may, in the long run, turn out to be less efficient than other farmers (e.g., owner-cultivators and informal tenants), particularly when they do not heavily depend on farm revenue as major source of family income. On the other hand, tenants who are not benefited from tenancy regulations might not be less efficient than owner-cultivators. The underlying implication is tenancy reform is not a panacea for improving farming efficiency; it may result in many negative effects in the long run.     

There is an I in nature: The crucial role of the self in nature conservation

In this paper we analyze the social-psychological determinants of private nature conservation. As a theoretical framework we use the Theory of Planned Behavior, to which the concepts connectedness to nature, self-identity, and place attachment were added. 94 landowners participated in our survey. Results of this pilot study show that perceived behavioral control, self-identity and connectedness to nature are the key factors influencing the intention to conserve. The more farmers feel that they are capable of conserving nature on their farm, the more they see themselves as conservationists, and the more they feel connected to nature, the more likely they are to intend to conserve. An important finding is that self-identity mediates the relation between CNS and conservation intentions. This implies that with an increased connectedness to nature, people come to see themselves as conservationists and this in turn influences their intentions. Of course, these results need to be replicated and validated across different contexts. We discuss the implications of this study for future research and policy.     

Do U.S. citizens support government intervention in agriculture? Implications for the political economy of agricultural protection

The persistence of agricultural protectionism throughout the world is intriguing given the widely recognized benefits of free trade. The political economy literature over the last decades has considered groups’ interest, politicians’ preferences, and their interactions within domestic politics as the primary forces driving agricultural protection. Yet, a growing body of studies suggests that it would be judicious to weigh in consumers’ or taxpayers’ perspectives in deciphering the nature of agricultural protection. This study examines U.S. citizens’ preferences about government intervention in agriculture and trade. Results show that they are in strong support of agricultural protection and their perceptions of national food security, family farms, environmental sustainability, and multifunctionality of agriculture play a significant role in shaping their support/opposition toward government intervention. The conventional political economy literature theorizes that consumers or taxpayers would oppose public policies that increase their tax burden; however, in the case of the farm sector, they have little incentive to voice their objections given the costs of farm programs are spread across a large number of consumers and taxpayers. U.S. citizens’ support for government involvement in agriculture as reported in this and other prior studies does not lend support for such political economy explanation.