The Role of Patent Rights in Mergers: Consolidation in Plant Biotechnology

Few empirical studies have addressed the impact of the patent system on industry structure. Using firm-level patent data for firms in plant biotechnology, we develop a measure of patent enforceability. Duration models show that patent statistics are useful predictors of the timing of consolidation and that patent enforceability is an important factor influencing the likelihood of consolidation. Acquisitions in plant biotechnology may be motivated by the enforcement of patent rights when firms have overlapping technologies; some merger activity may be explained by attempts to avoid mutually blocking technology, as exemplified by the case of Roundup Ready corn.     

The transformation of the Indian agricultural input industry: has it increased agricultural R&D?

Indian agricultural input industries have gone through a major transformation in the last 40 years. State owned firms grew during the Green Revolution and then stagnated or declined. Indian corporations that were protected from foreign competition are now exporters of agricultural tractors and pesticides. Foreign multinational corporations are rapidly increasing their role in the seed, pesticide, and tractor industries. Entry by large Indian firms and multinationals has increased competition in the input industries. Private agribusiness R&D in India grew from $23 million in 1985 to $250 million in 2009 in 2005 US dollars. This is the same time period as a transformation in the agricultural input industry, rapid growth in demand for agricultural inputs, breakthroughs in information technology and biotechnology, and changes in intellectual property rights. An econometric model was used to test whether the transformation of agricultural input industry was a major factor in the growth of R&D expenditure or not. This article analyzes a unique, firm level sales and R&D data set from the seed, pesticide, tractor, and fertilizer industries in 2000–2009. The estimated model indicates that agribusiness firms' R&D expenditures from 2000 to 2009 were positively related to variables associated with industry transformation such as firm size, ownership by multinationals, and declining industry concentration. The model also indicates that strengthening patent policy as well as growth in the size of research‐intensive industries like the seed industry contributed to the growth of agribusiness R&D in India.     

关于农产品质量安全的若干思考

本文在阐述我国农产品质量安全工作进展和存在问题的基础上,分析了包括现代信息技术、现代生物技术和"清洁农业"在农产品质量安全中的应用,并提出了进一步做好农产品质量安全信息化、检验检测技术和国际合作交流等方面的相关建议.     

公私合作农地整理项目的博弈分析：一个分析框架

在界定公私合作农地整理项目模式的基础上,采用博弈分析法,分析公私合作农地整理项目参与主体的行为目标,探究公私合作农地整理项目中的政府与企业、企业与农村集体组织、企业与农户的博弈关系。研究结果表明,公私合作农地整理项目参与主体的行为目标存在差异;协调政府追求社会福利最大化与企业追求利润最大化的目标冲突可提高项目效率;协调企业与农村集体组织对促进合作有正向影响;农户参与对提高农户项目的满意度有显著意义;政府单一财政投资存在低效率现象,企业单独投资可能导致社会福利损失,政府和企业合作有利于提高农地整理项目的投资效率;政府和企业的合作均衡受各自保留效用的影响,企业与农村集体组织合作投资的初始投入成本对合作具有正向作用;超额收益分配是否合理,影响企业与农村集体组织双方的策略选择,而初始投入成本和违约赔偿金额对农户与企业的合作关系有正向影响。     

The impact of seed industry concentration on innovation: a study of US biotech market leaders

Agricultural research drives increases in agricultural productivity, and the number of private agricultural input firms has been declining. The empirical relationship between the number of firms doing applied biotechnology crop research and the amount of research output they produce is investigated in a research profit function model. Increases in seed industry concentration have reduced biotech research intensity in the United States in the 1990s. Concentration and research are simultaneously determined and are influenced by the appropriability of research results and the state of technological opportunity.     

我国农业产业链生产、加工与销售环节的动态博弈优化研究

针对我国农业产业链各环节经营主体之间关系松散、行为冲突、违约频发等现象,在理论分析和实际调研的前提下,归纳设计了基于不同环节不同经营主体之间的动态博弈模型,即产业链生产与加工环节基于收购价格高低动态博弈模型,以及产业链加工与销售环节基于销售成本隐瞒的动态博弈模型,并求解出相关经营主体达到最优化决策需要满足的条件。为了验证模型的可行性和有效性,选取黑龙江省水稻产业链进行案例分析和经验总结,最后给出了相应的政策建议,推动我国农业产业链健康稳定发展。     

A Dynamic Analysis of University Agricultural Biotechnology Patent Production

This article examines the factors that account for agricultural biotechnology patenting success among universities using a dynamic count data model. It builds a theoretical and econometric model to capture the inherently dynamic and nonlinear process of technological innovation, wherein a feedback mechanism from previous success partially determines current patent counts. The econometric estimates reveal the importance to agricultural biotechnology patent production of land grant infrastructure, quality faculty, patent-oriented technology transfer offices, as well as dynamic feedback effects.     

Poisoned,Dispossessed and Excluded: A Critique of the Neoliberal Soy Regime in Paraguay

This paper challenges the recent hailing of agricultural biotechnology as a panacea for food insecurity and rural poverty in countries of the global South. Based on an empirical investigation of the neoliberal soy regime in Paraguay, I document how the profound transformation of this country's agricultural mode of production over the past two decades, spurred by the neoliberal restructuring of agriculture and the biorevolution, has jeopardized rural livelihoods. In particular, I demonstrate how the transgenic soyization of Paraguay's agriculture has led to an increased concentration of landholdings, as well as the displacement and disempowerment of peasants and rural labourers who have been rendered surplus to the requirements of agribusiness capital. At the same time, the consolidation of this new agro‐industrial model has fostered a growing dependence on agrochemicals that compromise environmental quality and human health. Thus, I argue, a development policy based on industrial monocropping of genetically modified (GM) soy is inappropriate, unsustainable and unethical.     

THE PROVISION OF CARBOHYDRATES FOR THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY'S BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

Biotechnology was originally identified as one of the leading-edge technologies the EC needed to support in order to maintain its industrial competitiveness: only subsequently was the scope for biotechnology in creating new uses for agricultural products seen as a potential outlet for agricultural surpluses. The development of new, biotechnologically-based products by the chemical industry has been hindered by the price of agricultural raw materials in the EC and the difficulty of negotiating arrangements to bring sugar and glucose prices, for the chemical industry, close to world levels. The negotiations to achieve this end were ultimately concluded successfully in 1986. These are described and a common carbohydrate supply policy called for to avoid such difficulties in the future.     

农业生产性服务业对农业生态效率的空间效应研究

[目的]农业可持续发展的关键在于农业生态效率的提升，基于“双碳”现实背景，将农业碳吸收与农业碳排放同时纳入农业生态效率的评价指标体系，研究农业生产性服务业对农业生态效率的空间效应。[方法]文章运用Super-SBM模型测度2000—2019年中国30个省（市、自治区，不含港澳台、西藏地区）农业生态效率并分析其时空演变特征，通过建立空间杜宾模型以探讨农业生产性服务业对农业生态效率的空间效应。[结果]样本研究期内，中国农业生态效率均值介于0.8～0.9，九大区域农业生态效率整体波动幅度较小，分区域呈现出“W”和“M”型两种时间变化态势，区域差异逐步缩小。农业生产性服务业对农业生态效率具有明显促进作用，且存在正向溢出效应，溢出效应超出直接效应。[结论]考虑农业碳吸收属性，中国整体农业生态效率处于较高水平，但未达到完全有效状态，仍有改进空间。应通过大力发展农业生产性服务业，加强区域合作，克服区域间要素的投入与产出的冗余，充分发挥溢出效应对区域间农业生态效率水平的拉动作用。     

The Evolving Structure of Chinese R&D Funding and its Implications for the Productivity of Agricultural Biotechnology Research

China’s research and development (R&D) policy has changed considerably over recent decades, and great changes occurred in 2006 when the main programme objective of China’s R&D changed from the 863 Programme and 973 Programme to the National Science and Technology Major Project. One topic that has drawn extensive attention is whether the investment reform improved R&D productivity in China. Using a unique panel dataset from 160 universities, this paper examines the effect of the investment reform on productivity improvement in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We use a panel count data model with a dynamic feedback mechanism to model the knowledge production process. Strong evidence indicates that the investment reform greatly contributes to knowledge output production in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We also find that the input quality is more important than the absolute quantity; human research capacity exhibits the greatest contribution to the output of patents; past knowledge accumulation helps produce more patents; and entry barriers to patent production exist in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. Moreover, the patent explosion in China may have been largely caused by improvements in the human capital input quality.     

Market and Cost Structure in the U.S. Beef Packing Industry: A Plant-Level Analysis

A resurgence of consolidation in the U.S. meat packing industry in the past few decades has stimulated academic and policy debate. Issues raised include the role of cost economies in driving these patterns, and the effects on the agricultural sector (cattle producers) from market power. Here, plant level cost and revenue data for U.S. beef packing plants are used to estimate a cost-based model incorporating cattle- and output-market pricing behavior. The robust results indicate little market power exploitation in either the cattle input or beef output markets, and that any apparent evidence is counteracted by cost efficiencies such as utilization and scope economies.     

农用地整理对区域景观动态与生态风险影响研究——以福建省建溪流域为例

研究目的:以福建省建溪流域为例,基于2010—2016年的景观类型数据和农用地整理数据,分析农用地整理对区域景观动态和生态风险的影响。研究方法:单一变量法,景观格局指数,生态风险指数。研究结果:(1)2010—2016年间通过农用地整理工程增加的耕地主要在海拔高于300 m的区域;(2)农用地整理工程中的新增耕地主要来源于草地、园地和林地,也有部分城镇村及工矿用地、交通用地等由于村庄合并或矿区土地复垦等原因被整理为耕地;(3)每一种农用地整理工程类型都是一种风险源,其释放的风险压力主要有景观单一化和景观破碎化两种;(4)2010—2016年建溪流域的生态风险值介于2 386.11～2 394.76,2010年后生态风险指数逐年降低。研究结论:本文对大尺度上关于农用地整理对景观生态的影响研究有借鉴意义,可以为区域尺度的土地利用优化设计和农用地整理设计规划提供科学依据。     

基于CiteSpace的国内外农业面源污染研究进展与前沿分析

[目的]分析农业面源污染相关的国内外文献,探讨农业面源污染领域的发展历程、国内外研究热点和前沿,为今后研究提供参考。[方法]文章运用文献共被引、关键词共现和关键词突现的文献计量分析法,以Web of Science(WOS)核心数据库以及中国知网（CNKI）的相关文献为研究对象,对2000—2021年农业面源污染领域国内外研究历程及发展趋势进行分析。[结果]（1）农业面源污染问题受到国内外学者的广泛关注,中国发文量最多,占全球的46.18%;(2)对农业面源污染进行聚类分析表明目前国际上农业面源污染领域的知识群组主要集中在水土流失、氮和磷、农业面源污染模型、最佳管理措施、冗余分析等,而国内对农业面源污染的研究主要侧重于农业面源污染负荷、化肥、人工湿地、防治对策等方面。（3）在聚类分析的基础上进行关键词共现分析发现生物技术控制农田径流中氮磷污染、利用Geographic Information System(GIS)等技术建立多种模型并对模型进行集成与优化、确定经济技术上可行的最佳管理措施、识别源区域的风险水平和空间分布是该领域的研究前沿。[结论]利用农业面源污染模型、应用环境友好型技术...     

可行能力视角下农户参与农地整理规划的意愿与影响检验——基于安徽寿县4个典型镇的实证分析

[目的]提升农户参与的意愿与探寻有效参与机制。[方法]文章以安徽省寿县4个典型镇的147户农户与4个项目为调查对象,从农户的可行能力视角出发,运用Logistic模型研究农户参与农地整理规划意愿的驱动因素,运用ArcGIS10.0的空间分析功能检验农户参与对规划的影响。[结果]非农业收入比例、农地整理政策了解度、排灌沟渠布局、田间道路密度及公众参与机制等5类因素有显著推动作用;对规划的影响表现在较大程度优化了规划方案,提高了农地生产率等,但耕作田块扩大效应不显著、排灌沟渠存在空间集聚现象、偏好生产路建设及轻视田间林网工程建设等弊端制约了农业规模化经营、忽视规划全局性与环境效应等。[结论]可通过强化农地整理政策宣传力度、完善引导农户式的公众参与机制及基于农户可行能力视角构建农地整理规划效果的衡量尺度以提升农户参与的意愿与探寻有效参与机制。     

经营规模、契约特征对新型农业经营主体农地整治积极性的影响——基于5省15县的调研

研究目的：分析经营规模、农地契约特征对农业经营主体农地整治行为与程度的影响。研究方法：采用Probit和Tobit模型对465位经营者调查数据进行实证分析。研究结果：（1）对于绝大多数农业经营主体，经营规模扩大对农地整治积极性存在微弱的负向影响；（2）农地经营面积和转入比例对土地类整治积极性存在负向影响，但相对设施类整治，农业经营者开展土地类整治的积极性更低；（3）契约价格、契约形式、契约对象为村集体、转入农地时具有担保等契约特征对农业经营者农地整治积极性存在显著影响，但契约时长的影响并不显著。研究结论：现阶段要提高新型农业经营者的农地整治积极性，有必要从多方面完善农地契约，而扩大农地流转规模和延长契约期限不一定有效。     

The Internet's Impact on Agricultural Input Distribution Channels

Agricultural input distribution channels incorporate a number of complexities that make communication of prices and availability murky, and create inefficiencies in input markets. The Internet provides the potential for realizing significant efficiency gains in the agricultural inputs industry through the continued consolidation and vertical integration made possible by improving communications networks. Innovative firms have the opportunity to profit from the changes wrought and encouraged by the Internet.     

黄河流域农业产业集聚对农业生态效率的影响——基于PCA-DEA和面板Tobit模型的实证研究

目的 探究黄河流域农业产业集聚对农业生态效率的影响，推进黄河流域生态保护和农业现代化协同发展。方法 文章运用非期望Super-SBM模型和区位熵指数对黄河流域农业生态效率和农业产业集聚度分别进行测度，分析其时空演变规律，在此基础上利用面板Tobit模型探究二者之间的影响关系，并进行区域异质性分析。结果 （1）2005—2019年黄河流域农业产业集聚水平整体较高，但农业生态效率水平整体处于中低水平，未达到有效水平，呈“东高西低”“南高北低”的空间分异格局；（2）研究期黄河流域农业产业集聚与农业生态效率之间呈倒“U”型曲线关系，拐点为1.432，目前以促进作用为主；（3）农业产业集聚对农业生态效率的影响具有区域异质性，黄河流域中上游二者之间呈倒“U”型曲线关系，下游地区二者之间非线性关系不明显。结论 应优化配置农业集聚要素，提升农业产业集聚质量；加强产业间区域化合作与交流，推动农业产业生态化发展；合理配置财政支农资金，加大绿色农业科技投入。     

An assessment of farmers’ satisfaction with land consolidation performance in China

Rural land consolidation has been a very important and efficient development tool all over the world for a century and is now an indispensable instrument for rural sustainable development in China. The Chinese central government has devoted large sums of money to rural consolidation projects each year in an effort to help protect cultivated land, to improve agricultural production, to enhance the socio-economic development of rural communities, and to help build rural landscapes. However, little attention has been paid to evaluating the performance of land consolidation projects from the view of community members, which is sorely needed. Household satisfaction with land consolidation projects is a key indicator of consolidation performance. Understanding the factors that influence household satisfaction is an effective way of dealing with problems in the interactions between land restructuring and human behaviors in rural areas and can help improve project performance. This paper examines the performance of land consolidation in terms of rural households’ levels of satisfaction in rural China and analyses the most influential factors of satisfaction. Data were gathered via questionnaires and analyzed with a probit model. Results indicated three significant points. First, overall satisfaction rate was 76.5%, meaning that most rural households in the regions of Hangzhou, Changsha, and Guiyang were satisfied with land consolidation projects. Second, 11 factors significantly affected rural residents’ satisfaction with consolidation. These factors included farmers’ level of education, employment characteristics, family size, input level of agricultural production, agricultural produce transportation methods, level of agricultural mechanization, the characteristics of land transfer in the village and within their own families, the perceived importance of land consolidation, their level of social insurance support, and their participation in rural production cooperatives. Third, six of these factors had positive effects on performance; four had negative effects, and one (employment characteristics) demonstrated a significant influence.     

基于SEM的土地整理项目“三农”效益评价——以陕西省揉谷镇347份农户调查为例

研究目的:从农户视角出发,以陕西省杨凌示范区揉谷镇347份农户调查为基础,定量评价土地整理项目的"三农"效益,为提高土地整理效益提供相关建议。研究方法:选取农业效益、农村效益和农民效益共3个潜变量和15个观测变量建立结构方程模型(SEM)。研究结果:(1)揉谷镇土地整理项目"三农"效益处于中等水平,农村效益较好,农业效益次之,农民效益最低;(2)农村效益和农业效益均对农民效益产生了一定的显著影响,但农业效益对农民效益的影响较低,农业效益每增加1单位,农民效益仅增加0.18单位。研究结论:在今后的土地整理过程中,要努力提高"三农"效益,特别是农民效益的提升,更要确保农民分享到农村效益、农业效益,推动"三农"协调发展,共同进步。