Adoption of New Technologies in Ethiopian Agriculture: The Case of Tegulet-Bulga District,Shoa Province

Adoption of agricultural production technologies in developing countries is influenced by a wide range of economic and social factors as well as physical and technical aspects of farming and the risk attitude of farmers. It is important to understand the role of these factors to ensure the development of appropriate technologies and the design of successful development projects. This study examines the impact of such factors on the adoption of single-ox, fertilizer and pesticide technologies as part of a post-drought recovery project in Tegulet-Bulga district in Ethiopia. Models to evaluate the probability of adoption are specified for the respective technologies and are estimated using a logit maximum likelihood procedure, results indicate that the most significant variable affecting the probability of adoption of all three technologies is farm size; the impact is negative for single-ox technology and positive for fertilizer and pesticide use. Economic factors such as income, wealth and debt generally exhibit statistically significant influence on the adoption of single-ox and pesticide technologies as do family size, access to outside information, education and experience. The effect of socio-economic factors on adoption of fertilizer and pesticide technologies is greater in the area which has more access to outside information and off-farm activities (Ankober) than in more ‘self-contained’ area (Seladengay). The impact of the degree of risk aversion of farmers is found to be significant and negative for single-ox technology in both areas, and for fertilizer and pesticide technologies in only one area. The predicted probabilities of technology adoption by an average farmer are found to increase dramatically with the level of education and access or exposure to outside information.     

Spatial Econometric Issues for Bio‐Economic and Land‐Use Modelling

We survey the literature on spatial bio‐economic and land‐use modelling and assess its thematic development. Unobserved site‐specific heterogeneity is a feature of almost all the surveyed works, and this feature, it seems, has stimulated significant methodological innovation. In an attempt to improve the suitability with which the prototype incorporates heterogeneity, we consider modelling alternatives and extensions. We discuss solutions and conjecture others.     

Economic welfare analysis of policy-induced structural change in the Indonesian poultry industry

The performance of the poultry industry in Indonesia is analyzed in terms of changes in producer and consumer welfare as a result of public policy intended to limit the size of production units in order to distribute growth opportunities to smallet farms. Elasticities of supply and demand are estimated using the seemingly unrelated system of equations. The hypothesis of a policy-induced structural change, estimated through a dummy variable accounting for a shift in supply associated with implementation of the policy, shows a negative impact on the output supplied and the welfare of producers and consumers to the tune of about Rp 94 billion or roughly about 0.1% of national income as of 1983. The study suggests an important trade-off between more equitable income distribution and economic efficiency.     

Excess capacity as a policing device

A great deal of recent work has been devoted to the question of whether an incumbent firm can successfully deter entry by investing in excess capacity. This paper demonstrates that a dominant firm may invest in excess capacity even when it is certain that this will not deter entry. Rather, the excess capacity is held by the dominant firm in order to ensure that its competitors will exercise appropriate restraint in their own output decisions. An example is provided that illustrates that the rate of return on the capital invested in excess capacity may be very high.     

How should environmental policy respond to business cycles? Optimal policy under persistent productivity shocks

How should environmental policy respond to economic fluctuations caused by persistent productivity shocks? This paper answers that question using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium real business cycle model that includes a pollution externality. I first estimate the relationship between the cyclical components of carbon dioxide emissions and US GDP and find it to be inelastic. Using this result to calibrate the model, I find that optimal policy allows carbon emissions to be procyclical: increasing during expansions and decreasing during recessions. However, optimal policy dampens the procyclicality of emissions compared to the unregulated case. A price effect from costlier abatement during booms outweighs an income effect of greater demand for clean air. I also model a decentralized economy, where government chooses an emissions tax or quantity restriction and firms and consumers respond. The optimal emissions tax rate and the optimal emissions quota are both procyclical: during recessions, the tax rate and the emissions quota both decrease.     

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's Consquences for U.S. Trade: The Nigerian Example

A by-product of the Watergate investigations into illegal political contributions and money-laundering was the revelation that American corporations had been making questionable payments to foreign officials to gain business advantages. That discovery was the driving force behind passage of the FCPA in 1977. Many since have complained that the law put American firms at a disadvantage in international trade. This paper assesses the credibility of that claim, as well as exploring the socioeconomic implications of corruption in a world of intensifying international competition. Based on the literature review, examination of international trade data and intensive interviews with foreign firms doing business in Nigeria, the paper reaches the following conclusions:1. Enforcement of FCPA has waxed and waned, but there is no evidence that its enforcement has impeded the growth of U.S. trade. In fact, trade with countries previously considered "bribe prone" has out-paced the growth of trade with non-bribe-prone countries, despite FCPA.2. Those American corporations which, in the past, were guilty of international bribery did so as a short-cut when adherence to time-honored ethics could have accomplished the same or better results.3. The "Storehouse of Knowledge" maintained by successful firms has been far more influential in promoting exports than any questionable payments they might be tempted to make.4. In most of the questionable payments investigated, American corporations had indulged in bribery to gain a competitive edge over other U.S. firms rather than foreign ones.5. Whatever the result, international bribery is inherently wrong for the same reason that domestic bribery is wrong.Despite criticism of it, FCPA has benefitted honest U.S. firms by reducing unfair competition among other American firms which comprise about 80 percent of the world's true multinationals. For multinationals to function in anything other than a transparent manner would be to impede the spread of democratic governments and market economies worldwide.