How integrated are world beef markets? The case of Australian and U.S. beef markets

The objective of the paper is to examine market integration between Australian and U.S. beef prices at the farmgate level. If these two prices are found to be integrated then it can be alleged that Australian beef prices can be used as a world price in empirical analyses and/or as a ‘reference price’ to measure the level of support accorded the U.S. beef sector. Co-integration analysis and a time-varying parameter estimation procedure based on the Kalman filter model are applied. The paper distinguishes between steer and cow beef segments and it uses monthly data over the 1972:1 to 1993:2 period. The results indicate that Australian and U.S. beef prices are co-integrated, albeit not fully and that the degree of convergence between the various price pairs has not substantially increased over time. The results also suggest that Australian prices can not unequivocally be adopted as a world price in empirical analyses.     

A time series analysis of Danish markets for pork, chicken, and beef

We offer a first-time empirical depiction of Danish dynamic meat price/quantity transmissions by formulating, estimating, and testing a VAR model of market-clearing quantities and prices of the Danish pork, chicken, and beef markets. The analysis illuminates how these markets dynamically handle shocks, and it is demonstrated that: (i) the three meats are close substitutes; (ii) chicken and pork market shocks have own-market and cross-market effects that occur rapidly and swiftly, while beef market shocks have more enduring impacts on pork and chicken markets; (iii) prices are in general more endogenous than quantities; and (iv) the price of chicken is much more endogenous than the prices of pork and beef.     

Information,efficiency, and welfare in agricultural markets

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have spread rapidly in the developing world. There has been considerable interest in the potential role ICTs, particularly mobile phones, have begun to play in the marketing of agricultural outputs in these countries. In this article, we discuss the potential impacts ICTs may have on welfare, both in terms of potential efficiency gains (via improved arbitrage), and welfare transfers among agents in the supply chain (via reduced informational asymmetries and market power). We also review the recent empirical evidence for such effects.     

Transition, development and the supply of wheat in China

The overall goal of this article is to better understand the factors that influence China's wheat supply. We assess trends in China's wheat output and develop a framework to measure the relationship between output and key determinants of China's wheat sector growth. Elasticity estimates and factor growth trends help decompose the growth of reform-era wheat supply into its component parts. The results show that growth in the early reform period was due to institutional change and technology. In the late reform period, however, with the returns to institutional change exhausted, all of China's growth in wheat supply was due to technology, a result that implies China's government should invest heavily in agricultural research and development.     

农产品期货市场：现代农业的助推器

中共中央、国务院<关于积极发展现代农业,扎实推进社会主义新农村建设的若干意见>指出:发展现代农业是社会主义新农村建设的首要任务.这意味着当前和今后相当长一个时期,发展现代农业将成为新农村建设的着力点.     

城市土地价格膨胀的影响

研究目的:近年来我国许多城市的土地价格已经很高且上涨速度很快,有的城市已经出现经济泡沫,危害了国民经济的发展。研究方法:联系实际进行理论分析。研究结果:城市地价上涨,加深了土地供给与需求之间的矛盾,影响社会和经济的发展。研究结论:土地价格持续、迅速的增加给经济带来的影响是巨大的,如不采取有力措施遏止土地价格上涨的趋势,势必会成为我国经济发展的一大障碍,国家有关部门及相关专家应密切关注这一问题的发展动向,及时出台相关合理的、科学的土地政策,消除隐患。     

Net capital outflows and the viability of family farms

Abstract

The importance of the family farm in EC agriculture is undisputed. This paper focuses upon the potential impact on family farms of capital outflows which arise from the Napoleonic Code inheritance system which is in place in many continental countries. This system implies that the transfer of ownership of the farm between generations is typically associated with a requirement for the successor to buy out the non‐succeeding heirs. The potential effects of these capital outflows on the family farm's current consumption and ability to pass on a viable unit to the next generation is illustrated using two versions of a life cycle simulation model using two definitions of what constitutes future family farm viability. The numerical results give some indication of the extra burden imposed by the Napoleonic Code inheritance system relative to primogeniture.     

农产品价格飞涨的深层次原因探究

当前农产品价格飞涨,尽管国家采取了各种手段来调控物价,以达到保民生的目的,甚至动用了行政手段,效果依然甚微,而且违背了市场经济的基本原则。要解决农产品价格飞涨,不紧要看到表象的原因,更要看到表象原因后面的深层次的原因,这样才可能做到对症下药,起到立竿见影的效果。     

Asymmetry in beef,lamb and pork farm-retail price transmission in Australia

The hypothesis of asymmetry in price transmission within the Australian meat market is tested using monthly data for beef, lamb and pork prices at different market levels over the period 1971–1988. The results indicate that asymmetrical price response is a strategy used by beef and lamb retailers and wholesalers to adjust to changing input prices, but not by pork retailers and wholesalers. This difference is perhaps unexpected given the similarity in behaviours relating to price levelling in this market, the high cross-price elasticities of demand between these meats, and the relatively greater degree of concentration in the pork market.