Foreign Aid and the Quest for Poverty Reduction: Is Aid to Agriculture Effective?

Development statistics estimate that three quarters of the poor live in rural areas and most of them depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihood. Consequently, research focusing on economic growth and poverty reduction has found that sustainable rapid transition out of poverty requires a special emphasis on the agricultural sector. This study contributes to the debate on aid effectiveness by disaggregating total aid into subcategories and specifically investigating the relationship between aid given to the agricultural sector and poverty reduction. If agricultural development is more effective in reducing poverty than some other types of development, then foreign aid directed towards agriculture may be more efficient in increasing the well‐being of the poor than aid directed to some other sectors or uses. Our analysis uses panel data for developing aid recipient countries to empirically test this relationship. We find a significant relationship between agricultural aid and poverty reduction in our estimates.     

不同等级城市房价与地价关系的规律初探

研究目的:对房价与地价关系进行因果关系检验,探索其地域等级差异规律,以期为因地制宜地制定房价调控政策提供参考。研究方法:对比分析法,ECM,Granger因果关系检验。研究结果:(1)地价对房价的短期影响表现为:三线城市最强,二线次之,一线最差;房价对地价的短期作用表现为:二线城市强于一线和三线城市;(2)房价与地价的相互关系在中期稳定性差,且不同城市表现出变动的随机性;(3)地价对房价的长期作用表现为一线、二线和三线城市逐渐增强;房价对地价的长期影响则恰好相反。研究结论:(1)房价与地价关系特征相似的城市,在相关政策的制定上可以彼此借鉴;(2)房价调控政策要将时效性考虑在内;(3)房价调控政策的制定要依据城市等级而有所差异。     

Gravity Model of Turkey's Fresh and Processed Fruit and Vegetable Export to the EU

Abstract

This study analyses the factors that determine Turkey's fresh and processed fruit and vegetable exports to the European Union (EU) using a gravity model. Panel data from 1995 to 2001 for 13 EU member countries are utilized. The explanatory variables are GDP, population, distance, Turkish population living in EU member countries, and being non-Mediterranean. Results indicate that the size of the economy, EU population, Turkish population in the EU, and addressing the tastes and preferences of non-Mediterranean countries are significant factors that affect Turkish fruit and vegetable exports. The results suggest that marketing strategies targeting the population of Turkish people in EU countries and non-Mediterranean member countries enhance the export performance of fruit and vegetable exports.     

The demand for food and beverages in Norway

The demand for food and beverages is estimated within a three-stage demand model. The separability structure of the model is checked by nonparametric tests. Some generalized axiom of revealed preference (GARP) violations are detected in one of the subsystems. However, they are removed by small adjustments in the quantities of fish, and the violations are interpreted as results of measurement errors. The almost ideal demand system is used in the static and a dynamic version. The results of various specification and misspccification tests suggest that the static version performs poorly as compared with the dynamic version. Norwegian demand elasticities for disaggregate food commodities have rarely been estimated within a system framework, so the results are of intrinsic interest. The elasticities estimated by using the dynamic model are of the expected signs and reasonable magnitudes. The values are stable over time for most commodities. Elasticities estimated within a subsystem are conditional on the goods included in that system, and they may differ from the more policy relevant unconditional elasticities estimated within a system including all goods. Adjustment formulas are used to approximate the unconditional elasticities from the estimated conditional elasticities. There are considerable differences between the numerical values of the conditional and unconditional elasticities for several of the foods. The unconditional own-price elasticities are in the interval-0.20 to-0.89. The own-price elasticities for hot drinks and for milk are most inelastic. The unconditional expenditure elasticities for food-away-from-home, fish, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages are above one, while the expenditure elasticity for hot drinks is about zero.     

Does Market Structure Influence Price Transmission in the Agro‐food Sector? A Meta‐analysis Perspective

There exists a large literature on price transmission in agro‐food sectors. However, a great majority of empirical studies focus on the existence of asymmetry and, by and large, do not investigate the reason for its presence or absence. This is in sharp contrast to the theoretical literature that provides a number of explanations of why we should expect (a)symmetry. In response, this paper investigates the reasons for asymmetric price transmission in the agro‐food chain, using meta‐analysis of existing studies. Our focus is on the organizational and institutional characteristics of the agro‐food supply chain. Our findings suggest that asymmetric price transmission in farm–retail relationships is more likely to occur in sectors/countries with more fragmented farm structure, higher governmental support and more restrictive regulations on price controls in the retail sector. On the other hand, more restrictive regulations on entry barriers in the retail sector and the relative importance of the sector tend to promote symmetric farm–retail price transmission. The latter is also more likely in the presence of a strong processing industry.     

大连市房地产开发资金来源与价格波动关系研究

基于大连市当前快速上涨的房价问题,根据大连市2004-2012年房地产开发资金来源与房地产价格数据,在利用ADF法对各个时间序列数据进行检验的基础上,运用Granger因果关系检验模型对大连市房地产开发资金来源变动与房价变动之间的因果关系进行分析,并运用灰色关联度方法对与房价有显著Granger因果关系的资金来源之间的关联度进行实证研究。研究结果显示:利用外资与房价的变化并没有直接的因果关系,大连市房地产是以其他资金来源为主,国内贷款和自筹资金对总的资金开发来源的影响处于同一水平。     

Supply side constraints in the Israeli housing market—The impact of state owned land

House prices in Israel have risen since 2008 by as much as 98%. Much of this increase is attributed to low levels of housing supply and housing supply elasticities. In Israel land is frequently owned by the state. This results in heavy government involvement in the housing market through the control of land supply via land tenders. This paper estimates the impact of state owned land on the Israeli housing market focusing on these unusual conditions of land supply. A model for the creation of new housing units is proposed. This incorporates land tenders, enabling the estimation of housing supply dynamics with an accurate measure of public land supply. The model is tested using regional panel data which facilitates the dynamic estimation of national and local supply elasticities and regional spillovers. The paper uses novel data sources resulting in a panel of 45 spatial units over a span of 11 years (2002–2012). Due to the nonstationary nature of the data, spatial panel cointegration methods are used. The empirical results yield estimates of housing supply price elasticities and elasticities with respect to land supply. Results show that housing supply is positively impacted by governmental decisions but the impact is low. Supply elasticity with regard to government land tenders stands at around 0.05 over the short run and 0.08 over the long run. Government policy of offering land in low demand areas and fixing minimum-price tendering does not seem to affect housing supply. Policy implications point to the need for more sensitive management of the delicate balance between public and private source of land in order to mitigate the excesses of demand shocks.     

储备棉轮入轮出机制对国内外棉花价格的传递效应分析*——基于VAR模型

在棉花补贴政策受到WTO条款质疑的背景下,储备棉轮入轮出机制成为开放市场背景下政府宏观调控的有效手段。[目的]利用1978—2016年度数据,分析储备棉轮入轮出机制对国内外棉花价格的传递效应,探索符合市场规律的储备棉轮入轮出机制的运行规律及对国内外棉花价格的传递效应,就完善政策对棉花市场的调控提出有效建议。[方法]综合利用VAR模型,协整检验、格兰杰检验等计量方法对储备棉实施期间储备棉轮入轮出价格、国际棉花价格和国内棉花价格之间的关联效应、相互影响程度进行分析。[结果]储备棉轮入轮出价格、国内棉花价格、国际棉花价格三者之间存在长期协整关系;由于储备棉加入棉花市场,我国棉花进口量减少,储备棉轮入轮出机制对国内棉花价格具有显著传递效应,对国际棉花价格的传递效应不显著,棉花进口量的增加对储备棉政策发挥具有抑制作用;国内棉花价格、储备棉轮入轮出价格与国际棉花价格具有相互传递效应。通过脉冲效应和方差分解可知,除自身影响外,国内棉花价格对国际棉花价格和储备棉价格波动影响较大;储备棉对国内外棉花价格波动的影响程度有待加强。[结论]因此,要通过对储备棉轮入轮出机制规律的把握、市场的动态变化进一步稳定储备棉调控机制,保证储备棉轮入轮出机制运行常态化;同时借助市场监测系统、通讯技术等进一步完善棉花市场信息监测机制,实时监测国内外棉花价格的联动性以稳定国内棉花价格,在此基础上充分发挥政策调控对稳定价格的积极作用。     

中国木质家具出口贸易与汇率波动关系研究

木质家具是我国最重要的出口林产品之一。人民币汇率改革后,人民币总体呈升值趋势,这一趋势提高了国产木质家具的出口价格,会产生阻碍出口的作用;与此同时其也会使进口原材料价格相对降低、促进原材料的进口,二者相互作用会共同影响木质家具出口额。通过建立回归模型,研究人民币汇率波动对中国木质家具出口贸易额的影响,结果表明人民币汇率与中国木质家具出口额呈负相关,但是通过人民币贬值来促进出口的策略并不明智。     

The Demand for Food Quality in Rural China

Many studies of food demand do not use actual prices but unit values, obtained by dividing expenditures by the quantity consumed. This can bias empirical analyses because unit values are not exogenous market prices; they reflect household food quality choices within each food category. This article develops a framework for assessing the resulting bias in income and price elasticities of demand and applies the framework to data for rural China. Empirical results indicate that households in rural China tend to consume higher-quality food as income increases, with a greater sensitivity to income for basic foods than for luxury foods.     

Do the BRICs and Emerging Markets Differ in their Agrifood Imports?

This study develops an import demand model to explore the role of income in explaining the trade performance of low‐, middle‐ and high‐income countries with a special emphasis on Brazil, Russia, India and China – the BRIC economies. The study estimates the impact of the growth in per capita income on the trade of agrifood products using data from 52 countries and 20 agrifood products for the years 1990–2006. The results suggest that China, Russia and Brazil now have more income elastic import demands than other middle‐income countries. Conversely, the income elasticities of import demand in India are similar to other low‐income countries and for the most part statistically equal to zero.     

Food Aid, Food Prices, and Producer Disincentives in Ethiopia

Although the short-term aims of food aid are well conceived, strong concerns have been voiced regarding the long-term impacts of such aid on incentives for agricultural producers in recipient countries. This article examines the statistical link between food aid shipments and food prices in Ethiopia over the period 1996–2006. Monthly data from three markets and three commodities are used to estimate a system of seemingly unrelated regression models for food prices. Results indicate that previous year food aid shipments reduce prices in all producer and consumer markets. These effects, however, appear to be limited to the set of internationally traded commodities that are domestically marketed. A recursive regression procedure is used to identify the food aid threshold at which a negative aid effect emerges. Food aid shipments that constitute less than 10% of domestic production appear to be benign, but shipments above this level show signs of being disruptive to local markets. We use a simple policy simulation to argue that production-sensitive targeting, e.g., conditioning food aid on local food production, would help to circumvent disincentive effects.     

珠三角一小时城市圈房地产价格影响因素对房价及其波动的影响程度研究

研究目的:研究珠三角一小时城市圈房价与其影响因素的相关关系,揭示各影响因素对该地区房价及其波动的影响程度。研究方法:计量经济分析方法和建模。研究结果:研究区房价与其影响因素之间存在长期稳定的协整关系;GDP与房价之间存在双向因果关系,GDP变化对房价波动的贡献最大。研究结论:研究珠三角一小时城市圈的房价波动应把握该地区的经济发展形势这条主线;各影响因素对房价波动的影响程度存在差异,应当综合考虑多种影响因素对房价进行调控。     

基于面板数据的省会城市居住地价的差异及成因研究

研究目的：基于2000 — 2006年面板数据,分析省会城市居住地价的差异、主要影响因子及其影响程度。研究方法：混合OLS估计方法、固定效应模型和随机效应模型。研究结果：（1）中国省会城市居住地价存在明显的时空差异,2005年及以后地价增长明显,且东部地区地价与中、西部地区的差距进一步拉大;（2）将城市间居住地价的影响因素分为全国宏观经济因素、区域整体差异因素和城市个体因素三个层面,并基于引致需求理论,构建更具实效性的城市居住地价影响因子体系;（3）建成区面积、城市人均GDP、国际旅游收入、2004年8月31日之后土地供应方式的重大转变（正向关系）和房地产开发投资（负向关系）对居住地价有显著影响。研究结论：面板数据模型是中国城市间地价问题定量分析的一个有效工具。