Market intermediaries,storage and policy reforms

Intermediaries play a crucial role in the functioning of agricultural and food markets in developing countries through linking production, imports and storage with consumption. We analyse how competition in the intermediary sector and alternative forms of intermediaries determine the incentives for storage and market outcomes more generally. We apply this framework to the Egyptian wheat sector as an illustrative case study, a country where food security is a priority, where both forms of intermediaries co-exist and undertake storage but where issues of reforms to the role of intermediaries have been raised. Through stochastic simulation, we analyse two changes in government policy: first, the effects of changing the policy instruments with both types of intermediaries undertaking storage; second, relating to market reforms where the private sector replaces the storage function of the parastatal. These issues have wider significance for addressing the interaction between food security and a wide range of policy reforms including de-regulation of parastatals in developing countries.     

Agricultural land protection in China: a case study of local governance in Zhejiang Province

China's rapid economic development following the 1978 reforms has resulted in significant economic, social and environmental change. One consequence of this change has been the accentuation of an existing trend of agricultural land loss and degradation. Although the 1978 reforms and their impacts have been subjected to considerable scrutiny, relatively little research has been directed towards the relationship between the evolution of local government structures and practices and the implementation of agricultural land protection policies. This paper presents an analysis of this relationship in Huzhou Municipality, Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang Province is situated on the eastern seaboard and exhibited the highest average annual per capita growth in China between 1978 and 1995. Huzhou Municipality is a growth centre in the northern part of the province. A synthesis of the factual knowledge and perceptions of 40 key-informants suggests that despite the development of a comprehensive legal framework for agricultural land protection, the interpretation of policy at local levels continues to permit the loss of agricultural land (and attendant environmental costs) to be traded-off against increased economic growth. This suggests a need to re-evaluate the role of local levels of government in China with respect to agricultural land protection issues; to look as much at the ways policies are implemented as at policies themselves. The devolution of administrative responsibility in China and the increasing influence of powerful local economic interests will provide an impetus for such a re-focussing of research at local levels.     

Elegy,ode or panegyric? Practising agricultural economics in Australia, 1975–99

Changes are investigated in the Australian agricultural economics profession, 1975–99, using a conventional microeconomics framework of supply and demand for agricultural economists. Aggregate exogenous factors such as changes in the agricultural and tertiary education sectors, and changes in beliefs about the proper role of government, have changed both supply and demand conditions for agricultural economists. The profession has responded by shifting its focus away from narrowly agricultural policy, especially marketing policy, towards areas of market failure such as environmental and natural resource issues.     

Four decades of China’s agricultural extension reform and its impact on agents’ time allocation

The Chinese Government has initiated a series of agricultural reforms since the 1970s to encourage agents to provide more services to farmers. In 2006, a new round of agricultural reforms was extended nationwide; however, the effectiveness of these reforms has not been examined. Based on a comparison of survey data sets before and after the reforms, we found that overall they significantly increased the time agents spend on agricultural extension services, although their effectiveness differs among three major components of the reforms. While the financial assurance reform had little impact on agents’ time allocation, the administrative reform actually reduced the time allocation to agricultural extension. However, we found strong evidence that the ‘three rights’ management reform (comprising the rights of personnel, financial and asset management) successfully increased agents’ time allocation to agricultural extension services. We also found that institutional incentives and the Government’s investment did not increase the time agents spent on agricultural extension. The lack of incentives is a problem that needs to be addressed in future reforms. We found that professional agents spent more time providing extension services than their non‐professional counterparts. We suggest that local Governments should avoid recruiting non‐professional agents into agricultural extension stations.     

Parametric and Semiparametric Modeling of the Off-Farm Labor Supply of Agrarian Households in Transition Bulgaria

The reaction of labor markets to economic reforms is an important indicator of the progress of transition. Because of diminished government support and the breakup of state and collective enterprises, labor market adjustments in the transition economies have been particularly severe in the agricultural sector. This article evaluates the off-farm labor market for a sample of agrarian households in transition Bulgaria. We give particular attention to the distributional assumptions that underlie standard approaches to the evaluation of labor supply. A variety of specification tests are considered and support for standard maximum likelihood estimates which rely on normality as a maintained hypothesis is mixed. Alternative semiparametric (distribution-free) estimators are also considered. The empirical results indicate that, five years after the initiation of the transition, off-farm labor supply patterns for Bulgarian agricultural households are similar to what is commonly observed in developed market economies. Labor supply is positively affected by factors such as education and work experience which are hypothesized to increase off-farm wages. Social benefit programs providing monetary or in-kind support payments are shown to significantly decrease off-farm work.     

解决三农问题的基本思路和政策方向

中国的三农问题演变至今，已经到了很严峻的程度，它既损害了社会公平，也导致了效率损失。针对这一现状，本文着重探讨了解决三农问题的基本思路和政策方向。文章认为解决三农问题的根本之途，就是要实现由城乡二元分割向城乡协同治理的转变，恢复农村自治的传统，提高农民组织化程度，强化农民的利益表达机制，建立民主合作型的农村治理体制，确保城乡居民在权利获得和社会参与方面的平等与公正。同时，加快以要素市场为主的市场化改革，减少政府控制，增加公共服务，对处于市场化转型中的小农经营给予多样化的补贴和支持，特别是在“多予、少取、放活”的同时，还需要高度重视“提高”的问题，投入更多的支持性资源，加强农村的教育事业，培育农村人力资本。     

河南省农产品质量安全可追溯体系建设研究

建立农产品质量监测系统是一项利国利民的重要举措,旨在促进农产品供应方面的结构体系改革,并建立农产品质量监测机制。建设农产品质量安全可追溯体系,对于政府来说可以加强对农产品安全的监控能力,对于农户来说可以提高履行生产和经营的责任,对于消费者来说可以增强消费者对农产品消费的信心。本文详细介绍了河南省农产品质量安全可追溯体系建设的情况,分析了农产品质量安全可追溯体系存在的问题,提出了进一步增强全社会对农产品质量安全的认识、监督各级监管制度的建设和执行情况,以及加强可追溯体系建设和宣传教育工作等相关措施。     

Economic development, institutional change, and the political economy of agricultural protection An econometric study of Belgium since the 19th century

This empirical study uses 100 years of annual data on 11 agricultural commodities from Belgium to measure the impact of structural changes coinciding with economic development and changes in political institutions on agricultural protection. The analysis shows that changes in agricultural protection are caused by a combination of factors. Governments have increased protection and support to farmers when world market prices for their commodities fell, and vice versa, offsetting market effects on producer incomes. Other economic determinants were the share of the commodities in total consumer expenditures (negative effect) and in total output of the economy (positive effect). With Belgium a small economy, there was no impact of the trade position. Changes in political institutions have affected agricultural protection. Democratic reforms which induced a significant shift in the political balance towards agricultural interests, such as the introduction of the one‐man‐one‐vote system, led to an increase in agricultural protection. The integration of Belgian agricultural policies in the Common Agricultural Policy in 1968 coincided with an increase in protection, ceteris paribus. Both institutional factors, related to changes in access to and information about the decision‐making at the EU level, and structural changes in the agricultural and food economy may explain this effect.     

二十世纪中国农业教育的分期研究

我国现代农业教育发端于19世纪末到20世纪初，经历刚刚过去的百年发展，已经初步形成了具有中国特色的农业教育体系。回顾20世纪的发展轨迹，有筚路蓝缕的艰辛，有曲折动荡的苦涩。也有辉煌成就的慰藉。本文以20世纪中国农业教育的思想变革和学制发展为主线，尝试将百年农业教育划分为四个历史发展时期，并研究分析了不同历史时期的发展状况和发展特征。     

Agrarian Change and Privatization of Ejido Land in Northern Mexico

This paper uses the findings of a 1999 case study of ejidos (collective landholdings) in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora, a prominent agricultural region of northwest Mexico, to examine responses to a series of economic and legal reforms enacted as part of Mexico's 'Reform of the Countryside', which began in the late 1980s. In particular, it analyses reactions to the 1992 amendment to Article 27 of Mexico's Constitution, which legalized the rental and sale of previously inalienable ejido land and created programmes and institutions to officially certify ejido members' land rights. The paper concludes that the complex of economic and legal reforms – combined with the specificities of Sonoran agriculture – has generated a visible change in ejidos with respect to land operation, setting the stage for an accelerated shift towards the privatization of agricultural land in northern Mexico.     

新农村建设与三次产业融合互动问题研究——以河南省为例

随着我国新农村建设进程的不断加快,新农村建设与农村三次产业融合互动问题越来越受到国内外学者的重视,已经成为研究的重点与热点。文章以河南省为例,在对其新农村建设与农村三次产业融合互动现状进行分析的基础上,指出新农村建设与第一产业的融合互动存在农用地非农化、农产品市场发展不完善、农业科技贡献率与农业机械化水平较低、农民收入结构不合理等问题;与第二产业的融合互动存在产业链条短、缺乏规模企业带动、发展后劲不足等问题;与第三产业的融合互动存在消费带动能力不足、经营创新能力较弱等问题。最后,分别从加强土地管理、稳定粮食生产,提高农业科技水平、加快农业机械化进程,深化农产品市场改革、加强农村现代物流体系建设等方面;建设典型示范性农村工业基地,延伸工业链条,强化生产技术等方面以及转变农村居民的消费观念,创新运营形式等方面为新农村建设与三次产业协调发展提出具体对策。     

2017年土地科学研究重点进展评述及2018年展望 ——土地经济分报告

研究目的：梳理并比较2017年国内外土地经济领域研究进展和研究重点，展望未来研究方向。研究方法：文献法。研究结果：（1）国内外研究都较为关注土地价格和土地市场化，但侧重点有不同。与国外研究相比，国内研究更加关注规模经营、农户个体特征对其流转意愿的影响和农地金融创新。（2）国内外学者都关注土地产权制度、土地制度设计和变革，但国内学者更关注如何通过制度创新以盘活土地资源。研究结论：土地经济领域未来可能的研究重点有：落实乡村振兴战略的土地政策、农村土地制度改革试点、集体建设用地统筹利用、农地三权分置、农业农村发展用地保障机制，以及改革开放40周年土地市场与土地制度的系统性回顾、分析与展望等问题。     

Towards a theory of policy timing*

The article presents a theory of policy timing that relies on uncertainty and transaction costs to explain the optimal timing and duration of policy reforms. Delaying reforms resolves some uncertainty by gaining valuable information and saves transaction costs. Implementing reforms without waiting increases welfare by adjusting domestic policies to changed market parameters. Optimal policy timing is found by balancing the trade‐off between delaying reforms and implementing reforms without waiting. Our theory offers an explanation of why countries differ with respect to the length of their policy reforms and why applied studies often judge agricultural policies to be inefficient when actually they may not be.     

An Analysis of the Linkage Between Agricultural Exports and Economic Growth in Pakistan

Summary

This article examines the relationship between agricultural exports and economic growth. Pakistan is used as a case study due to its large amounts of agricultural exports which have competed with industry for government support. This study estimates three simultaneous equations representing GDP, agricultural exports, and total imports while incorporating factors such as income remittances from abroad, investment, and manufactured exports as independent variables. The timing of this information is critical as Pakistan's policy makers now face major agricultural reforms in their quest for development. The estimation results show that a favorable relationship exists between agricultural exports and growth in GDP.     

国外农业科技成果转化模式比较与借鉴

本文主要分析了美国、法国、荷兰和以色列等农业发达国家农业科技成果转化模式的异同,这些国家都有强有力的政府扶持、高度发达的市场经济体系、产学研的紧密结合和发达的科技与教育。以此为基础,提出建立我国农业科技成果转化体系的思路,就是要确立国家主导的模式体系、确立教育优先发展的思路、提高产学研结合和农业科技成果产业化的水平。     

农业功能区划理论问题思考

农业功能区划是规范我国农业发展空间秩序,实现区域协调发展的重要基础性工作。该文在阐述开展农业功能区划背景意义的基础上,重点探讨了农业功能和农业功能区的内涵特征,农业功能区划的基本准则,农业功能区划的基本方法,农业功能区管理制度设计等农业功能区划理论问题。     

农业水价改革与农民承受能力研究

阐述我国农业水价改革的现状,分析水价改革后灌区运行情况,以河南省新乡市人民胜利渠农业水价改革为例,对北方灌区农业水价改革以后的运行情况以及农民对水价的承受能力进行了研究,对农业水价改革中有关供水成本的确定、农民承受能力、补偿办法提出了建议：完善基础设施建设,促进水价改革,确定供水的合理成本,充分考虑农民对水价的承受能力,确定合理的农业水价补偿办法。     

Multi-scale assessment and spatial modelling of agricultural land abandonment in a European peripheral region: Galicia (Spain), 1956-2004

The environmental, cultural and economic consequences of land use change, including abandonment of agricultural use, have been recognized for a long time. It has often been assumed that the transformations of the agricultural systems in developed countries (and particularly in Europe) took place, for the main part, in the immediate years after the Second World War. In this paper we present a review of different statistical and cartographic sources available for a peripheral region in Europe (Galicia, Spain) characterized by small-scale farming and a very fragmented property system, that suggests otherwise: modernization of agriculture apparently took place without major changes in agricultural area until the country gained access to the European Economic Community, and the effect of Common Agricultural Policy reforms during the decade of 1990 is suggested as a major driver for the net decrease of agricultural area in the region between 1956 and 2004. On the other hand, this paper emphasizes the spatial complexity of agricultural abandonment with a case study, showing a large degree of variability at municipal scale and thus the need of future EU-level projects to work at least at municipal (Local Administrative Units 2, LAU 2) level. Finally, a multinomial logistic model for observed changes is included that shows how biophysical limitations were the main drivers behind abandonment of agriculture at parcel scale, while structural qualities related to property structure were strongly associated to the incorporation of former shrublands to agricultural use. Besides, Farm Structure Surveys were revealed as an unreliable source for the assessment of changes in total agricultural area in the studied region.     

The importance of farmer education in South Australia

There is a significant challenge involved with balancing food security at local and global levels whilst mitigating the environmental and social consequences of the historically productivist agri-food system. This work will address the importance of education in the South Australian agricultural sector as a tool to maximise beneficial outcomes. The results of a blended method research project, which involved farmers and governance stakeholders in South Australia, are presented as empirical evidence highlighting the positive roles that formal education, in particular university education, have in regard to increasing sustainability. It was found that higher levels of formal education contributed to farmers being more likely to prioritise the socio-environmental outcomes of their agricultural land use. There was also a dramatic reduction in farmer concerns with government support mechanisms as education levels went from secondary or less, through to vocational qualifications, and finally university degrees. Interviews with agricultural governance stakeholders emphasised the role of education in building the adaptive capacity of farmers, and the subsequent positive outcomes for the future development of the South Australian agricultural industry. These results suggest that further education provides farmers with the capacity to compete effectively in a liberalised economy.     

An analysis of industrial–agricultural interactions: a case study in Pakistan

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between Pakistan's industrial and agricultural sectors. Pakistan was chosen because of its status of a semi‐industrialized country with heavy dependence on the agricultural sector. The relationship between cotton production and industrial growth is also evaluated due to the prominence of this crop in Pakistani agriculture. The results indicate that these sectors are complementary, yet industry tends to benefit more from agricultural growth than vice versa. The timing of this information is critical, as Pakistan's policy makers now face major agricultural policy reforms in their quest for continued industrial development.