日本农业协同组织的发展新动向与面临的挑战——日本案例和对中国农民专业合作社的启示

日本农业协同组织已经有100多年的历史并具备一定的规模,从事的业务种类繁多,成员也从农民会员扩大到非农民会员,近年来也面临新问题与挑战.本文主要介绍了日本农民协会管理理念与模式、经营业务以及近几年所面临的问题,从而为正在发展中的中国农民专业合作社提供参考.     

Wheat demand in Japanese flour milling industry: a production theory approach

A production approach based on the translog cost function is used to analyze import demand for wheat differentiated by class and country of origin in the Japanese wheat flour milling industry. Results indicate that US wheat faces strong competition in the Japanese wheat market, but its multiple classes and end‐use characteristics enable the US to preserve the largest market share in Japan.     

Effects on poverty and equity of the decline in collective tank irrigation management in Tamil Nadu, India

This paper investigates the factors influencing the decline in collective management of local commons and the impact of this decline on agricultural production and household consumption. The analysis is based on a village and household data set collected in 1999 in Tamil Nadu, India, where tank irrigation systems are managed collectively for rice cultivation by informal water users' organizations. Our statistical analyses find that one major reason for the decline in collective tank irrigation management is the dissemination of private well irrigation systems. Once the decline has occurred, our analyses predict that the gap in rice yields between farmers who have access to private wells and those who must rely solely on tanks will widen, with only the latter group suffering lower yields. Our analyses also find that the same pattern holds for levels of income and consumption because the affected farmers cannot sufficiently compensate for the loss of their rice income by diversifying their income sources to agricultural labor or nonagricultural work. In this way, the decline in collective management results in greater inequality and poverty.     

Sequential procurement auctions with risk-averse suppliers

We compare two procurement mechanisms, bundling and unbundling, in a two-stage auction model with risk-averse suppliers. The mechanisms differ in that the two tasks of investment and production are procured through a single auction or two sequential auctions. Suppliers’ production costs are affected by two risk factors, aggregate risk and idiosyncratic risk, as well as by the cost-reducing investment. We show that the bundling mechanism is optimal for a buyer and socially desirable if the aggregate risk is below certain thresholds. The result may not hold true for idiosyncratic risk.     

Performative Achievement of Routine Recognizability: An Analysis of Order Taking Routines at Sushi Bars

The concept of performativity, a central theme in routine dynamics research, suggests that a routine does not first exist as a recognizable phenomenon, and then actions are taken subsequently. On the contrary, actions themselves need to achieve the recognizability of the routine. This paper revisits recognizability in light of routine interdependence and materiality. Focusing on order taking routines at sushi bars, the analysis reveals that participants constantly achieve the beginning of a routine performance by drawing on performances of other routines and materiality, both of which are seemingly unrelated to the focal routine. Prior to routine initiation, much material and embodied work is conducted in order to make the routine recognizable. Once initiated, the routine performance makes subtle use of materiality, allowing participants to engage in a seemingly unrelated routine while they remain subordinately attentive to the focal routine. While a routine appears to exist on its own once it is recognized, the achievement of this recognition relies largely on factors that are not part of the routine.     

Interdependent bank runs under a collapsing fixed exchange rate regime

This paper provides a framework for simultaneous multiple bank runs in a country experiencing a currency crisis. The correlation of bank runs increases as the proportion of debts from foreign creditors (indexed to the dollar) to domestic creditors (indexed to the domestic currency) increases. Moreover, when the share of dollar debt is sufficiently high, this interlinkage is perfect; that is, runs occur in all banks or not at all. Consequently, a situation exists where even a solvent bank cannot borrow in the interbank market. These findings imply that as the domestic banking sector becomes increasingly dependent on dollar debt, there is a heightened requirement for dollar reserves and a lender-of-last-resort facility.     

Do the Rich Save More in Japan? Evidence Based on two Micro Data Sets for the 2000s

Using two household surveys, this paper investigates whether the saving rates of richer households are higher than those of poorer households in Japan. We construct a number of proxies for lifetime wealth, including those original to this study, and find marginally positive correlations between saving rates and lifetime wealth for working age households. We further find that the relationship between saving rates and lifetime wealth differs depending on the life stage of individual households. Older households with higher lifetime wealth appear to be dissaving to some extent, which is more or less consistent with the lifecycle model of consumption.