What determines the efficiency of Australian mining companies?

We examine the firm‐specific determinants of technical efficiency in Australian mining companies using data envelopment analysis (DEA). To do so, we employ panel data sourced from individual mining companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) over the period 2010–2014. To ensure valid statistical inference in the presence of serial correlation between DEA efficiency scores, we apply Simar and Wilson's two‐stage bootstrap method. We find that ownership concentration, firm size, firm age, product portfolio, product diversification and growth status significantly contribute to efficiency gains. However, other firm‐specific factors, such as capacity utilisation, financial risk and overseas operations appear to have limited impact on the technical efficiency of mining firms.     

SHIRKING,STANDARDS AND THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION

By relaxing the common efficiency wage assumption of exogenous shirking detection probabilities, we demonstrate how standards and efficiency wages are related. In a more general setting where the probability of detection depends upon the equilibrium effort level of non‐shirkers, we show that the uniformly positive (negative) supply‐side relationship between wages (unemployment insurance) and effort is no longer guaranteed. Profit maximization on the part of the firm, however, ensures that effort will depend positively (negatively) on wages (unemployment insurance) in equilibrium.     

Are aquaculture growth policies in high-income countries due diligence or illusionary dreams? Foreseeing policy implications on seafood production in Singapore

In the beginning of 2019, the Singaporean government announced its desire to increase domestic food production and, in particular, aquaculture to reach 30% of self-sufficiency by 2030. Similar policies aiming at encouraging aquaculture growth abound in high-income countries in recent years, but have had limited success. Hence, this paper investigates the potential implications of such policies to foresee consequences beforehand and improve the policy’s chances of success. Three scenarios of aquaculture development are built for Singapore until 2040, among which a business-as-usual scenario and two explorative scenarios aiming at increasing aquaculture production, the first emphasizing existing technologies and the second giving priority to novel and innovative ones, like recirculating aquaculture systems. These scenarios are assessed using an adapted version of the supply-demand partial equilibrium model Asiafish to challenge their viability in the socioeconomic context of Singapore. Only the two explorative scenarios are found to allow the Singaporean government to reach its goal in terms of seafood self-sufficiency by 2030, one of which appears to have strong advantages. In this scenario, imports decrease by 28% by 2040, seafood self-sufficiency reaches 69% and 90% of all aquaculture originates from innovative technologies, which would make Singapore an aquaculture tech-hub. It also has higher benefits within Singapore environmental, social and economic constraints such as land and aquafeed scarcity.     

农户生态耕种行为及其影响因素研究——以江西省为例

[目的]为清晰识别影响农户生态耕种行为的主要因素,以期为加强耕地生态保护、保障农作物质量安全、提升农户耕种收益、实现农业现代化目标提供参考。[方法]基于江西省11市47县(区)1488份农户微观调查数据,在分析农户生态耕种特征基础上,运用二元Logistic和Probit模型对农户生态耕种行为影响因素开展实证研究。[结果]农户生态耕种10种具体行为的采纳情况差异明显,其中施用有机肥采纳程度最高,生态农业模式采纳程度最低。农户采纳生态耕种整体水平不高,但仍具备进一步推广的潜力。家庭劳动力比重、生态耕种成本认知、新型农业经营主体、法律法规认知、生态耕种收益认知、生计分化和生态环境认知等解释变量是影响农户生态耕种行为的主要内部因素,政府补贴、农田基础设施、生产交流程度、耕地质量变化和生态耕种信息获取难度等则是主要的外部影响因素。[结论]政府及基层管理部门应在推动农户非农就业生计、大力培育新型农业经营主体、加强生态耕种宣传与推广、完善政策扶持与管控机制等方面制定针对性的政策措施。     

自然保护区生态旅游发展对贫困农户生产经营能力的影响研究

基于云南省轿子山国家级自然保护区的调查数据,从3个维度构建农户生产经营能力指标体系,运用熵值法及多元线性回归模型研究保护区生态旅游发展对贫困农户生产经营能力的影响。结果表明:轿子山国家级自然保护区样本贫困农户生产经营能力总体处于中等水平,且呈现出区域差异性;社区社会保障缺乏和政府帮扶政策措施滞后是造成农户生产经营能力不足的主要原因;在控制“农户家庭基本特征”类别下的4个变量中,保护区开展生态旅游效果的主客观认知是影响贫困农户生产经营能力的一个重要因素,贫困农户参与保护区生态旅游相关工作正向显著影响农户生产经营能力,并对保护区生态旅游扶贫效果起到中介效应。因此,提出政府相关部门应合理规划,构建全域化生态旅游发展体系;增强基层治理水平,提供就业创业培训路径;转变观念,提升自我脱贫可持续能力等建议。     

敦煌种业财务绩效评价研究

选择以农业上市公司敦煌种业为研究对象,以企业2014—2019年的报表数据为基础,采用功效系数法并以国务院国资委所编写的《企业绩效评价标准值》中国有企业绩效评价体系作为参考,构建对农业企业的财务指标评价体系,对敦煌种业2014-2019年企业财务指标的表现进行纵向分析,选择同行业中营业收入水平较高的北大荒进行横向对比,通过对比发现敦煌种业的问题主要体现在盈利能力和资产质量方面,对此提出了改进措施及建议。     

中国农业竞争力提升视域下的小农户发展

目前我国农业发展面临一个急需破解的重大悖论：如何在发展小农户的基础上提升中国农业竞争力。论文提出中国特色农业竞争力具有三重内涵：以生产竞争力为基本要求，以安全竞争力为战略底线，以市场竞争力为主攻方向。小农户发展对于提升中国农业竞争力有重要作用，这体现于小农户发展有助于提升农业生产竞争力、安全竞争力和市场竞争力并推动提升机制之间联动。因此，提升中国农业竞争力必须促进小农户发展，并且小农户发展有提升农业竞争力的可能性，但当前小农户发展受到内外条件的约束。据此，本文提出以下政策建议：完善政府支持、发挥小农户主体作用、发展和推广农业科技和物质装备以及将小农户融入产业链。     

The rebound effect on energy efficiency improvements in China’s transportation sector: A CGE analysis

Energy use is becoming more efficient due to technological innovations. We focused on the transportation sector in China to develop a national multisector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for analyzing the rebound effect from an improvement of 10% in the energy efficiency. We compared the size of the energy rebound effect at both the macroeconomic and sectoral levels in different transportation modal subsectors, namely rail, road, water, and air travel. The findings showed that the magnitude of the rebound effect varies across the transportation modes. This is particularly true for the air transportation sector, which has an economy-wide rebound effect of 30.1% and an own-sector rebound effect of 74.6% because of a sharp increase in the export demand for air transport services. We also quantitatively evaluated the contribution of energy efficiency improvement in the transportation sector to China’s economic growth and carbon reductions and found a positive dividend effect on the economy as well as the environment. The modeling results suggest that improving overall transportation energy efficiency by 10% generates an economy-wide welfare gain of approximately 29 billion yuan, while 19 billion yuan are attributable to a more efficient road transportation subsector. Furthermore, to offset the effects of these mode-specific rebound effects, we simulated the effectiveness of different policies and solutions. These included economic instruments in the form of energy, environmental, and carbon taxes, household transport consumption structure adjustments, and energy structure adjustments. This study revealed that combining these sustainable development policies offers opportunities for economy-wide multisectoral improvements in energy savings, emissions reduction, and economic benefits.     

Elasticity of substitution and technical efficiency: evidence from the US electricity generation

ABSTRACT

The implications of national or regional energy policies for technical efficiency and environmental outcomes in electricity generation depend on fossil fuel input substitution. This study uses state level data to examine fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) substitution in electricity generation under increased availability of natural gas in the United States. We observe that changes in elasticities of substitution from pre-2009 to post-2009 differ across states suggesting that the effects of increased availability of inexpensive natural gas on electricity generation have been spatially heterogeneous. We rely on the observed heterogeneity to assess the effects of fossil fuel input substitution on technical efficiency and CO₂ emissions. The results reveal that state level elasticity of substitution between natural gas and coal has a positive effect on technical efficiency and a negative effect on CO₂ emissions. Therefore, future policy design and analyses should reflect the implications for regional elasticities of fossil fuel substitution and associated environmental outcomes.     

The persistent institutional effect of liberal colonialism: evidence from China’s financial policies

ABSTRACT

The effect of liberal colonialism on the allocation of capital persists to this day. We exploit the colonial history of China during 1896-1911 with qualitative evidence to measure liberal colonialism. We document that liberal colonialism promotes the subsequent efficiency of financial policies on the capital allocation in 2004 through the quality of economic institutions.