The economic costs of weeds on productive land in New Zealand

Here we review published research on the costs of weeds to New Zealand’s pastoral, arable and forestry sectors, and propose an alternative dynamic approach for future research. The studies reviewed had little in common methodologically, often contained guesswork, or were outdated. Their aggregation resulted in a conservative estimate of the cost of weeds to New Zealand’s agricultural economy of $1658 million (2014 NZD). To address deficiencies in previously used methodologies, a dynamic approach is developed and applied to a case study on giant buttercup in dairy pastures. This approach accounts for probable temporal changes in both the geographic extent of the weed and in producer prices and indicates annuitized costs (over the period 2012–2030) of $166 million, $259 million and $592 million for rates of spread of 144, 60 and 20 years for giant buttercup to invade all dairy regions in New Zealand. Comparing the aggregate cost of all weeds to the three productive sectors estimated from the historical data with these ‘dynamic’ estimates for the one species in dairy pasture, indicates that the historical data provide a substantial underestimate of the true aggregate cost of weeds to New Zealand’s agricultural economy.     

LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION POLICIES AND MEAT PROCESSING MARGINS: THE CASE OF NEW ZEALAND, 1967-1988*

The New Zealand export meat industry has been through a considerable number of changes in the 1980s. The deregulation of export slaughter facilities, Supplementary Minimum Prices, Producer Board intervention, declining livestock numbers and domestic cost pressures have all affected the performance of the domestically based processing sector. Major changes in market access and demand have influenced off-shore marketing operations, particularly for sheepmeats. Additionally, there has been a change in the type of meat exported with a greater proportion of further processed product shipped in recent years. As an example of the impact of these developments on livestock producers, the producer share of the United Kingdom wholesale market return for a representative prime lamb carcase has fallen from 40 per cent in 1978 to 25 per cent in 1988. In this article the pattern of intervention in the New Zealand pastoral meat industries from the mid-1960s is detailed, emphasising the different environments of the beef and sheepmeat enterprises. Then the principal factors influencing domestic processing margins for these products are empirically examined. Alternative model specifications and alternative estimation techniques are compared and contrasted. The results of these analyses are discussed in terms of the historical patterns of assistance and structural change, and in terms of current rationalisation pressures on the meat processing sector.     

南水北调中线工程跨区域转让水价成本核算体系研究

在确定水库与南水北调中线工程总干渠联通技术方案的基础上,将已建水库原水综合成本、联通工程供水综合成本、总干渠输水成本作为应急调蓄供水成本,构建了南水北调中线工程水库应急供水跨区域转让供水成本模型;提出了多水源多目标成本水价核算体系,在多水库联合供水时,将供水成本进行加权综合计算。实例计算结果表明,在不考虑折旧的情况下,南水北调中线工程各水库原水综合成本为0.02~0.44元/m³,联通工程供水综合成本为0.04~2.17元/m³,多水源联合调度不同用水户供水综合成本为0.60~1.71元/m³。     

Reducing Investment Risk in Tractors and Combines with Improved Terminal Asset Value Forecasts

Secondary asset market data for combines and tractors are used to estimate and separate out historical economic depreciation, embodied technological change and time value change. Combines and tractors generally exhibit constant geometric economic depreciation on a year-to-year basis. Depreciation rates vary by manufacturer. Farm investors can use these manufacturer-specific depreciation rates reported here to estimate terminal asset values. The study finds significant seasonal differences in machinery depreciation rates. A major source of error in forecasting terminal asset values comes from changes related to time. There is a predictable time component to the constant quality asset index that has not been investigated in previous studies. Unanticipated shocks to demand should be followed by price reversion to long-run average manufacturing costs as industry capacity adjusts to demand. This reversion component is predicable. Investment risk over longer planning horizons may be lower when both depreciation coefficients and time component estimates are employed.     

Optimal management of the New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii)*

Annual recruitment of the New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii) has decreased by 75 per cent since significant levels of commercial fishing began in the early 1970s. This motivates application of a multiple‐cohort bioeconomic model to a New Zealand longfin eel fishery to investigate its optimal management and ascertain the suitability of existing regulatory policy. The use of historical harvest to calculate total allowable catch is asserted to be unsustainable based on recovery dynamics. In addition, individual transferable quota systems are argued to be fundamentally flawed for the protection of longfin fisheries because of high‐grading, low‐surplus production and a current lack of effective stock‐assessment procedures. Area closure and the spatial definition of harvest rights are attractive alternatives given the territoriality of longfins and high larval spillover. The importance of unfished reserves is reinforced when significant uncertainties regarding population strength, harvest intensity and growth dynamics are considered. Restriction of exploitation to older cohorts in fished areas is demonstrated to maximise economic yield.     

地勘单位必须准确核算矿业权成本

矿业权成本是企业化经营的地勘单位的生存基础,地勘单位要做矿业权的经营主体,就必须全面准确地核算矿业权成本。地勘单位矿业权成本的准确核算,首先要对现有自主经营的矿业权进行一次全面的清查和分类,作为全面核算矿业权的起点;其次是以局为单元制定矿业权成本核算办法,把局系统内的矿业权成本核算统一起来;其三是以地质队为基础核算矿业权成本。     

山东省莱州市大菱鲆养殖经济效益评估

大菱鲆养殖是我国北斱沿海重要的海水鱼养殖产业乊一,具有巨大的经济效益。本文采用市场价值法等相兲斱法评估了莱州市大菱鲆养殖产业的年收入及饵料、电费、鱼苗、鱼药成本等相兲支出项目,为合理评估大菱鲆养殖的经济效益提供参考。经过计算,莱州市大菱鲆养殖产业年可实现销售收入6.53亿元,年均各项成本支出总和为4.5亿元。年利润2.03亿元,利润率为31.09%。各项成本支出中,饵料、电费、鱼苗费、鱼药费和固定资本折旧费依次为2.2亿元、1.23亿元、0.73亿元、0.09亿元和0.25亿元,占总成本的比例分别为49%、27.3%、16.2%、2%和5.5%。     

Valuing New Zealand recreational fishing and an assessment of the validity of the contingent valuation estimates

This article presents estimates of the recreational value of fishing in New Zealand. The data was obtained from a large-scale interview conducted at boat ramps across New Zealand. The results suggest that the recreational value of a species depends critically on the motives for targeting a particular species. Species targeted for eating purposes have marginal values that appear to closely reflect the market price of the fish (i.e. the opportunity cost). In contrast, those species which are sought mainly for recreational purposes, have a higher value. Furthermore, values for these fish types were found to be greatest for scarce species and large species of fish. The article examines the robustness of the estimates to determine whether strategic bias, embedding effects or hypothetical bias influence the results.     

基于抽样调查的我国大菱鲆养殖成本收益分析

借鉴国内外农产品成本收益分析指标体系的设立方法和相关研究理论,选取河北、辽宁、山东等主产区不同规模的27家鲆鲽鱼类养殖单位作为样本,就大菱鲆养殖成本及销售价格等数据进行调查统计,并利用对比分析法、盈亏平衡点分析法、敏感性分析以及建立计量模型等方法,对27个调查样本的相关数据进行成本收益分析,结果表明企业提高产销量对利润的提高影响积极,企业利润对单价是富有弹性的,而对于单位变动成本和固定成本来说是缺乏弹性的,企业能较快速收回成本的项目,饲料价格、用电费用、单位固定成本折旧和销售量对毛利润具有显著性的影响。     

New Zealand freshwater management and agricultural impacts

In New Zealand, it is increasingly recognised, including by government, that water resource allocation and water quality are issues of national importance. Agriculture is frequently portrayed by public media as a major user of water and a major contributor to worsening water quality. We outline the water management systems in New Zealand, and the use of water by agriculture. Official reports on agriculture's impact on New Zealand water availability and quality are summarised. We report how the New Zealand public perceive water, its management, and the roles of agriculture in water issues. Data from a nationwide mail survey were analysed to determine how New Zealanders assess the state of New Zealand lakes, rivers and streams, and aquifers, the performance of three agencies responsible for management of freshwater resources, and willingness to fund stream enhancement. We provide brief explanations for the failures of water resource management in New Zealand and report on options, including community-based responses that might address some of the mounting public, scientific, and government concerns about trends in water quantity and quality. A willingness to pay proposition, concerning riparian areas, included in the nationwide survey provides some evidence that the public are willing to pay for improved waterway management. Relevant non-market valuation studies also indicate that the public places considerable value on preservation values of water in New Zealand.     

Modelling New Zealand dairy products: evidence on export survival and duration

This article presents evidence concerning the pattern of New Zealand dairy exports duration and survival from 1989 to 2017. It also analyses the influence of a set of supply, demand and gravity‐type drivers on the hazard rate for New Zealand dairy export relationships. The findings are summarised as follows. First, New Zealand dairy export relationships are dynamic with numerous entries and exits to and from foreign markets. Around half of the relationships survived for only 1–2 years at the sequence level. Second, duration of sequence, left‐censoring, initial export, decomposed sequences, New Zealand export price index, the number of cows available for dairy production, the number of origins and destinations, and destination partner’s GDP are the most significant factors reducing the hazard rate of export relationships. As regards the effects of the non‐tariff measures, it is interesting that technical barriers of trade are found to significantly decrease the hazard rate. Only pre‐shipment inspection and contingent trade protective measures are significant impediments to New Zealand dairy export relationships. Finally, hazard probabilities for New Zealand dairy export relationships are estimated to be ‘L‐shaped’ over time, whether or not non‐tariff measures are applied to New Zealand dairy products.     

我国淡水养殖生产成本收益变动分析

本文通过对2000～2007年淡水养殖生产中各成本构成及其变化趋势的比较,探讨了我国水产养殖生产成本收益的变化趋势。结果表明：淡水养殖成本逐年上升,年收益率则表现为波动下降的趋势;我国水产养殖苗种成本、鱼药成本、饲料成本以及人工成本均呈现增长趋势,而销售成本和固定资产折旧则为下降趋势;但从各成本构成要素占总成本的比重来看,苗种费用、饲料费用和鱼药费用的比重基本稳定,人工费用比重增长明显,而销售费用、固定资产折旧费用的比重则为下降。     

ACCOUNTING FOR CAPITAL IN THE FARM BUSINESS

The management accounting procedures used in British farming usually deal inadequately with the capital aspects of the farm business. This has stemmed in part from the failure to study solvency as well as profitability, and partly from too great a reliance upon the data from the Farm Management Survey. Certain aspects of depreciation are also discussed.     

Predicting Farm Tractor Values through Alternative Depreciation Methods

This study compares a variety of farm tractor depreciation methods to determine which most accurately estimates farm tractor values. These alternative depreciation methods consider different factors for estimating remaining value and vary in difficulty of use. Pairwise comparisons of mean absolute percentage error and forecast accuracy regression models were used to evaluate the accuracy of the depreciation methods, which depend on age, intensity of use, and manufacturer. Based on the results of this study, the Cross and Perry method was generally the most accurate.     

Droughts and farms’ financial performance: a farm‐level study in New Zealand

We quantify the impacts of droughts in New Zealand on the profitability of dairy, sheep and beef farms using a comprehensive administrative database of all farms in New Zealand. For dairy farms, we found that drought events have positive impacts on dairy farms’ revenue and profit in the year of the drought. This effect is most likely attributable to drought‐induced increases in the export price of milk solids, as New Zealand is the market maker in this global market and almost all domestic dairy production is exported. All of these quantified impacts, however, are not very large, suggesting that, at this point in time, droughts have a fairly moderate impact on New Zealand dairy and sheep–beef businesses.     

A Growth Accounting Analysis of Cost Efficiency in Milk Production for Six Northern States in the United States

This paper reports on the use of a growth accounting approach to calculate and decompose cost efficiency indices into technical change, regional competitive advantage stemming from spatial effects, and economies of size. Dairy farm data for Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania for the years 1968, 1970, 1977, 1980 and 1988 are utilized in the analysis. The results show that technological change yielded a 1.8% average annual rate of cost reduction over the period studied. In addition, medium and large farms were, on average, 12% to 20% more efficient than small farms. Pennsylvania had a distinct competitive advantage (13.8%), while Maine exhibited a clear competitive disadvantage (−18.2%) in producing milk relative to New York.     

THE MILFORD TRACK: VALUATION ESTIMATES OF A RECREATION GOOD*

This paper uses observations on visitation rates to estimate Clawson demand functions for a non-priced recreation commodity, namely, the Milford Track located in the Fiordland National Park of New Zealand. Different classes of user with potentially different demand elasticities are identified, and shadow prices consistent with revenue maximization of a discriminating and non-discriminatory monopolist tourist authority are estimated. Alternative maximum revenue and consumers' surplus valuations are presented which correspond to different concepts of measures of willingness to pay for use, including travel costs and the opportunity cost of time.     

绿色会计在林业会计中的应用研究

阐述绿色核算的理论基础及其必要性,分析我国传统林业会计核算体系的局限性,提出林业会计应增加对环境成本和环境收益的核算,应将绿色会计的理论和方法应用于林业会计,并从林业会计目标、林业会计的成本观、核算内容、报告模式及科目设置等方面进行探讨。     

Evaluating Input Standards for Non‐Point Pollution Control under Firm Heterogeneity

The efficacy and cost of input standards for reducing nitrate pollution from New Zealand dairy production are evaluated. In contrast to previous studies, firm heterogeneity is explicitly considered through the novel integration of efficient techniques for the calibration and decomposition of large optimisation models. Nitrogen fertiliser application should not be targeted by policy given its minor role in determining emissions. In contrast, livestock intensity is an appropriate base for regulation given its strong correlation with pollutant load. Abatement cost increases as stocking rate declines, but this can be offset at low levels of regulation through utilising slack feed resources to improve per‐cow milk production. Both uniform and differentiated input standards based on livestock intensity achieve substantial decreases in pollutant load at moderate cost. However, because of disparity in the slopes of abatement cost curves across firms, a differentiated policy is more cost‐effective at the levels of regulation required to achieve key societal goals for improved water quality.     

Dairy disaggregation and joint production in an economy‐wide model*‡

We examine the impact of dairy disaggregation and joint production on trade liberalisation outcomes in an economy‐wide model. Depending on parameterisation, our model includes either (i) a single dairy commodity, (ii) several dairy commodities without joint production or (iii) several dairy commodities with joint production. In a numerical application, we consider the removal of US tariffs on dairy exports from New Zealand (the world’s largest dairy exporter). We show that failing to account for joint production when dairy commodities are disaggregated leads to misleading results. Our preferred dairy production function differs from those used in other applied trade models. Our analysis can be used to determine when accounting for joint production in other sectors is important.