Scale, Organization, and Profitability of Ethanol Processing

We analyze the appropriate size and implied profitability of a representative ethanol processing firm. An analysis based on current processing technology and costs with typical conditions in Iowa product and input markets is useful; because unit production costs have declined 30% in current dollars over the last 15 years; and because discovering a suitable size for processing facilities has been an important part of the cost‐reducing process. We apply theoretical plant size rules for a conventional processing business, an integrated producer/processor enterprise, and a processing cooperative. We also introduce a spatial dimension for the corn input market, because ethanol processing facilities can be uniquely large among agri‐processing enterprises. The analysis supports three conclusions. First, the most appropriate size may still be larger than many of the recently constructed plants. Second, ethanol processing is a profitable enterprise; for instance, we calculate a return on capital of 14% for a processing business with optimal scale, current costs and technology, and typical market conditions. Third, total producer plus processor profits can be improved moderately, about We analyze the appropriate size and implied profitability of a representative ethanol processing firm. An analysis based on current processing technology and costs with typical conditions in Iowa product and input markets is useful; because unit production costs have declined 30% in current dollars over the last 15 years; and because discovering a suitable size for processing facilities has been an important part of the cost‐reducing process. We apply theoretical plant size rules for a conventional processing business, an integrated producer/processor enterprise, and a processing cooperative. We also introduce a spatial dimension for the corn input market, because ethanol processing facilities can be uniquely large among agri‐processing enterprises. The analysis supports three conclusions. First, the most appropriate size may still be larger than many of the recently constructed plants. Second, ethanol processing is a profitable enterprise; for instance, we calculate a return on capital of 14% for a processing business with optimal scale, current costs and technology, and typical market conditions. Third, total producer plus processor profits can be improved moderately, about $0.04/bushel of corn processed, with an integrated producer/processor enterprise; the producer enterprise sets the local corn price through processing capacity, in a fashion that offsets some potential monopsony power. Nous avons analysé la taille appropriée et la rentabilité implicite d'une usine de transformation d'éthanol représentative. Une analyse fondée sur la technologie de transformation et les coûts actuels tenant compte du marché des produits et des intrants en Iowa s'est révélée utile étant donné que les coûts de l'unité de production ont diminué de 30% en dollars courants au cours des 15 dernières années et que la détermination de la taille appropriée des installations de transformation est un élément important du processus de réduction des coûts. Nous avons appliqué les règles théoriques concernant la taille dans le cas d'une usine de transformation classique, d'une entreprise intégrée de production‐transformation et d'une coopérative de transformation. Nous avons également présenté une dimension spatiale du marché de l'intrant de maïs, étant donné que la taille des installations de transformation d'éthanol peut être importante comparativement aux autres entreprises de transformation de produits agricoles. L'analyse a permis de dégager trois conclusions. Premièrement, la taille la plus appropriée pourrait bien être supérieure à celle de nombreuses installations récentes. Deuxièmement, la transformation de l'éthanol est une activité rentable; par exemple, nous avons calculé un rendement du capital de 14% pour une entreprise de transformation exploitant à une échelle optimale, avec une technologie et des coûts actuels optimaux et profitant des conditions du marché typiques. Troisièmement, les bénéfices du producteur et du transformateur peuvent augmenter légèrement, d'environ 0,04 $/boisseau de maïs transformé, dans le cas d'une entreprise intégrée de production?transformation; l'entreprise du producteur établit le prix du maïs local en fonction de la capacité de production de manière à contrebalancer le pouvoir de monopsone potentiel.     

Market and Cost Structure in the U.S. Beef Packing Industry: A Plant-Level Analysis

A resurgence of consolidation in the U.S. meat packing industry in the past few decades has stimulated academic and policy debate. Issues raised include the role of cost economies in driving these patterns, and the effects on the agricultural sector (cattle producers) from market power. Here, plant level cost and revenue data for U.S. beef packing plants are used to estimate a cost-based model incorporating cattle- and output-market pricing behavior. The robust results indicate little market power exploitation in either the cattle input or beef output markets, and that any apparent evidence is counteracted by cost efficiencies such as utilization and scope economies.     

基于碳汇的云南退耕还林工程生态补偿研究

以碳汇为生态指标,结合县域经济发展水平、县级政府支付能力、县域经济中农业贡献率、农户后续生机情况等社会经济指标,采用相对比较法确定指标权重,采用线性比例变换法规范指标值,然后对云南省实施退耕还林工程的129个县(区)进行综合评价,根据评价结果将之分为3个等级,建议不同等级的县(区)实施不同的补偿额度,同一等级内实施不同的补偿方式。     

借区域经济发展之势,促资源依赖型城区转型——以内蒙古自治区赤峰市元宝山区为例

资源型城市在我国经济社会发展过程中做出了重大贡献,但随着资源的枯竭,这类城市遇到了很多问题。作为资源型城市产生与发展的核心,矿业经济城区应该借助区域经济发展的良好态势,加速推进本区经济转型。资源型城市经济社会转型具有系统性、开放性、长期性、地域性、创新性等特点,建议内蒙古赤峰市元宝山区的经济转型应根据其经济社会发展现状,充分利用现有资源,打造物流中心,建立健全工业体系,建设农牧产品基地,妥善安置下岗职工。     

MANAGEMENT AND SIZE ECONOMIES IN THE ENGLAND AND WALES DAIRY SECTOR

Analyses of size economies in the England and Wales dairy sector have generally been made on the basis of comparisons of input-output measures. These measures have been classified according to input use and farm size and have led to conclusions about efficiency and structural change. This paper examines the influence of managerial ability on economies of size using econometrically estimated long-run average cost (LAC) functions from Milk Marketing Board data for 1980/1. The results show that the LAC curve is U-shaped though skewed to exhibit greater economies than diseconomies of size. Better managed farms are shown to produce any given level of output at lower average cost. Moreover, they have larger optimal levels of output.     

Measuring the Impact of Ethanol Plants on Local Grain Prices

A considerable number of farmer-owned ethanol plants have been built in the past few years, with many more planned. In part, farmers' investment in ethanol plants is an attempt to increase grain prices in their local market. We examined this issue by estimating the impact on local grain prices of twelve ethanol plants that opened from 2001 to 2002. We find that these new ethanol plants increased local grain prices, but the impact was not uniform around the plant. Markets downstream from a new plant, where prices tend to be higher, experienced a smaller price impact from the ethanol plant. On average across plants, corn prices increased by 12.5 cents per bushel at the plant site, and some positive price response was felt 68 miles away from the plant.     

Genetic improvements in major US crops: the size and distribution of benefits

The distribution of welfare gains of genetic improvements in major US crops is estimated using a world agricultural trade model. Multi-market welfare estimates were 75% larger than estimates based on the price-exogenous 'change in revenue' method frequently used by plant breeders. Annual benefits of these genetic improvements range from US$ 400–600 million depending on the supply shift specification. Of this, 44–60% accrues to the US, 24–34% accrues to other developed countries. Developing and transitional economies capture 16–22% of the welfare gain. The global benefits of a one-time permanent increase in US yields are US$ 8.1 billion (discounted at 10%) and US$ 15.4 billion (discounted at 5%). Gains to consumers in developing and transitional economies range from US$ 6.1 billion (10% discount rate) to US$ 11.6 billion (5% discount rate).     

Rural school access and the agricultural transformation

Improving children's access to primary and secondary education is a strategic goal for many global development agencies and government policymakers. Nevertheless, there is relatively little research examining how changes in rural school supply affect future labor markets. We leverage variation in the timing and location of secondary school construction in Southern Mexico to identify the effects of school supply on labor outcomes. We find that school construction increases expected education for school-aged children by about 4 years and raises the share of years working in the nonagricultural sector between the ages of 18–22 by 29.8 percentage points. The magnitude of the effects on share of years doing nonagricultural work is smaller for individuals from homes where an indigenous language is spoken. Our findings indicate that rural school construction in less-developed countries can accelerate the transformation from agricultural to nonagricultural economies, but there may be heterogeneous effects across socioeconomic groups and ethnicities.     

国内矿业城市经济转型模式分析及启示——以焦作、临汾、淄博、大同为例

文章从接续产业发展的角度总结了焦作、临汾、淄博、大同四个矿业城市经济转型的模式。分别为:三大产业同步发展模式、民营经济发展模式、综合发展模式、矿业延伸与非矿产业发展模式。从四个老年矿业城市成功转型模式的分析中,提出了矿业城市可以借鉴的六点经验。     

我国矿业城市经济转型面临的问题与对策

矿业城市转型是目前世界上的一个热点,更是一个难题,我国矿业城市的转型尤其如此。我国矿业城市经济转型中存在着产业发展畸形、后备资源匮乏、政府定位偏差等主要问题,为解决这些问题,加速实现我国矿业城市经济转型,应构建矿业城市产业集群、改善投资环境以及兼顾各方关系,实现矿业城市经济和谐转型。     

Estimating multiproduct and product‐specific scale economies for agricultural cooperatives

This article estimates multiproduct and product‐specific scale economies, scope economies, and cost efficiency with single and annual cost frontiers using a nonparametric approach. Multiproduct scale and scope economies are found that suggests increasing scale and product diversification can reduce cost for agricultural cooperatives. Many agricultural cooperatives experience economies of scale indicating that variable returns to scale as opposed to constant returns to scale is the appropriate technology for modeling agricultural cooperatives. Product‐specific scale economies for all outputs are close to one indicating that individual outputs are operating close to constant returns to scale. Annual frontier estimates show that cooperatives have become less cost efficient over time, but scale and scope economies remain relatively consistent across years. Further, results show that economic measures obtained from the single frontier are statistically different from those measures calculated from annual frontiers, suggesting that the cost frontier has shifted over time. The trade‐off between cost efficiency and multiproduct scale economies indicates that smaller cooperatives can reduce a higher percentage of cost by increasing the scale of operations rather than just becoming cost efficient. Because larger incentives exist for small cooperatives to increase scale, mergers will likely continue until economies of scale are exhausted in the industry.     

内限外拓——矿业城市经济转型模式新探索

矿业城市经济转型是一道世界性难题。发达国家矿业城市经济转型常采用三种模式,即以政府为主导的政府推动模式、以市场机制为动力的市场推动模式及市场机制与政府主导双重动力作用下的混合推动模式。而在特殊的国情、矿情下,我国矿业城市经济转型不能照搬西方模式。文章以江苏省徐州市为例,提出政府、企业和职工三者合力为转型动力的转型模式,即内限外拓的转型模式,其转型内容包括:限产以延长优势资源服务时间,减少社会震荡;产业改造升级;再造产业增长点;发挥人才、技术优势"走出去"开拓新市场。     

Technical and Organizational Change and Economies of Scale and Scope in Developing Countries

This article examines the impact of flexible automation (FA) and associated organizational techniques on scale and scope economies and optimal scale. It is based on an in-depth survey of 62 engineering firms in Brazil, India, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. The paper finds that the replacement of old, mainly conventional, machine tools and transfer lines by new computer-numerically-controlled machine tools and related FA has resulted in lower economical batch sizes and the manufacturing of growing variety, making it possible to reap economies of scope. Scale and scope economies at product level have, however, reinforced scale economies at plant level, resulting in higher levels of optimal output. The main factors accounting for such impact are the reduction in the number of operations required, the improved efficiency and accuracy of the new technologies and the much higher capital fixed costs vis-a ¤ -vis the technologies that were replaced. Higher plant scales could limit the potential for industrialization in developing countries.     

Size and Productivity in the U.S. Milling and Baking Industries

From the late 1950s through mid-1990s, productivity growth in U.S. grain milling and feed manufacturing has been consistently strong and positive. In grain milling, approximately 15% of the growth is due to size economies. Technical change has been capital-using, increasingly material-saving, and, in recent years, decreasingly labor-saving or increasingly labor-using. The quality of capital has risen relative to that of labor and materials. In all but the baking industry, capital intensification and incentives for plant size growth remain unabated.     

Scale Economies,Technical Efficiency,and the Sources of Total Factor Productivity Growth of Quebec Dairy Farms

Canada's average cost for milk production is among the highest in the world. This paper focuses on specific potential causes by estimating economies of scale and technical efficiency for a panel of Quebec dairy farms that spans the 2001–10 period. Additionally, this paper investigates the sources of total factor productivity growth. The stochastic frontier analysis, based on an input‐distance function, is used to estimate returns to scale relationships across dairy farms. The results show that there is significant economies scale to be exploited and that cost of production could also be reduced by improving technical efficiency. Accordingly, the paper indicates that input‐mix effect is the main source of total factor productivity growth. The results have important implications for Canada's supply management policy, and more specifically for the trading of production quota between dairy farmers, as well as for the delivery of targeted extension services.     

Into the urban wild: Collection of wild urban plants for food and medicine in Kampala,Uganda

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. While urbanisation causes landscape changes, little is known of how this process affects the use of wild plant resources by urban populations. This study contributes to addressing this knowledge gap by exploring the prevalence and determinants of urban collectors of wild plants in Kampala, Uganda. During February to August 2015, 93 structured interviews were conducted in inner, outer, and peri-urban areas of the city. The findings in this study show that urban wild plants are used by almost half (47%) of the respondents, mainly for medicinal purposes but also as a complement to diets. The findings further indicate that residents with lower income, of younger age (<51 years old), and predominantly living in peri-urban areas are more likely to be urban collectors. Seasonality appears to be of greater importance in collection of food plants than of medicinal plants. Overall, these findings indicate that wild plants occupy an important role in the livelihoods and traditions of Kampala’s residents, and we argue that this should be taken into account in urban planning projects.     

On the nature and magnitude of cost economies in hog production

In this article, we assess the impact of farm size on production cost and evaluate the marginal costs and margins by considering that input prices may change with the scale of production. By using French hog farm data, we estimate a system of equations including a feed price function, input demand functions, and an output supply function based on a technology approximated by a combined generalized Leontief‐Quadratic form. Our results suggest that the marginal costs are over‐estimated when the adjustment of the feed unit prices to a change in farm size is not controlled for. More specifically, the cost economies for large farms (enjoying the highest profits) arise primarily from lower feed prices, with technological scale economies having little impact. In contrast, farms with no hired labor exhibit technological scale economies and reach higher price‐cost margins compared to larger farms.     

Technological Change and Economies of Scale in U.S. Poultry Processing

This article uses a unique data set provided by the Census Bureau and a translog cost function to empirically examine technological change in the U.S. poultry industry. Results reveal substantial scale economies that show no evidence of diminishing with plant size and that are much greater than those realized in cattle and hog slaughter. Findings suggest that consolidation is likely to continue, particularly if demand growth diminishes, and that controlling for plant product mix is critical to accurate cost estimates.     

HERD SIZE AND UNIT COSTS OF PRODUCTION IN THE ENGLAND AND WALES DAIRY SECTOR

This paper examines the relationship between herd size and unit costs of production in the England and Wales dairy sector. Following the two-stage estimation procedure of Dawson & Hubbard (1987), longrun average cost (LAC) functions are estimated from cross-section data for five separate years between 1976/7 and 1986/7. Results show that the LAC curves are U-shaped but highly skewed, implying that considerable economies of size are present at low output levels but diseconomies at larger levels are much less marked. Over time, technological change in particular has been shifting the LAC curves downward and to the right and away from the sector's long-run equilibrium. The differential shift of cost curves, depending on the size of production, implies that technological change has been biased in favour of larger herds.     

西部资源型城市转型发展研究

西部资源型城市的转型发展是中国现阶段建设资源节约型和环境友好型社会,实施可持续发展的一个重大课题。文章论述了西部资源型城市面临的资源、生态环境和自我发展能力等三方面的综合问题,论证了其转型发展的必要性。针对这些问题,提出了西部资源型城市转型发展的具体思路和政策建议。