The Costs and Returns of Agricultural Credit Delivery

Borrower-level data from 963 agricultural lending relationships are used to examine how several factors influence the costs and returns of extending agricultural credit. The results provide estimates of the costs and returns of agricultural lending and the extent to which these costs and returns are influenced by factors such as loan volume, lender/borrower relationship factors, and contract terms. The findings indicate that economies of size exist in agricultural credit delivery and that lenders pass most of these benefits on to borrowers through lower interest rates. In addition, the impacts of lender/borrower relationship factors were relatively small.     

Expert systems and land development expertise

Summary

Expert systems are a product of the new technology. They provide the means for computerizing human expertise. This necessitates a more explicit understanding of the latter, provides an additional source of it and presents the possibility of enhancing the competence of that expertise. The paper argues that in the face of increased competition for investment funds the development industry needs to adopt a more sophisticated approach to project assessment. Two examples, with respect to planning law and retail investment appraisal, are developed to indicate the potential of the expert system approach. Ultimately expert systems challenge appeals to ‘feel’, ‘experience’ and judgement’ in human decision‐making; if successful, however, they promise improved profitability.     

ISLAMIC CREDIT: THE IRANIAN EXPERIENCE

The replacement of the Shah's regime by an Islamic fundamentalist government in Iran resulted in the outlawing of interest-bearing credit and its replacement with a credit system which accords with the teachings of the Koran. Two forms of credit are acceptable: interest-free loans, and profit-and-loss-sharing loans. Although the latter have assumed only a small proportion of lending by the Agricultural Bank, they are potentially attractive to small risk-averse farmers because of their risk-sharing characteristics. In particular, they pass part of the business risk (e.g. due to uncertainty in yields and prices) back to the lender and avoid creating any financial risk for the borrower. A model is developed to explore the impact of Islamic credit on borrower behaviour and a numerical illustration is also provided. Results of a farm survey are reported, and indicate that small risk-averse farmers prefer the Islamic credit system, whilst medium and large-scale farmers prefer interest-based credit. Some of the obstacles to more widespread uptake of the Islamic credit system in Iranian agriculture are identified.     

Relationships between Technical Efficiency and Financial Management for Czech Republic Farms

This paper provides the first analysis of the relationship between farm financial structure and technical efficiency in Central and Eastern European farming during the transition to a market economy. First, technical efficiency scores for a sample of Czech farms are computed with data envelopment analysis, accounting for sampling variability by using the Simar and Wilson bootstrapping procedure. The confidence intervals show that corporate livestock farms are the most homogenous in terms of technical efficiency. Second, a Tobit model is applied for the investigation of factors, including financial considerations, which influence the variation in technical efficiency. The potential endogeneity of the financial variables in the explanation of efficiency is examined, following Smith and Blundell. The Amemiya estimator is used for those cases which are revealed as endogenous. The analysis indicates substantial differences in the way in which the different management structures are treated by lenders. De novo, individual farms are subject to stringent evaluation of their loan applications, which is not the case for the successors of the former collective and state farms.     

Credit Risk Models and Agricultural Lending

Credit risk models are developed and used to estimate capital requirements for agricultural lenders under the New Basel Capital Accord. The study uses credit value-at-risk methods to calculate probability of default, loss given default, and expected and unexpected losses. Two applied models, CreditMetrics and Moody's KMV , are estimated using farm financial data. The results show that the necessary capital for agricultural lenders under the New Basel Accord varies substantially depending on the riskiness and granularity of the portfolio.     

Design of economic information. A pilot study of accounting information in decision-making processes

Accounting information is developed for an analytic decision-making process, whereas many farmers use an intuitive process. The aim is to determine the decisions and parts of the decision-making that farmers use for accounting information, and to what extent accounting information would be more useful if it was designed to fit the decision-making process used. A limited sample of milk-producing farmers in Uppsala County, Sweden, was studied. For detecting scale problems, the values of the financial statement were of primary importance and the design of the profit and loss statement was of secondary importance. For detecting efficiency problems, the values of the profit and loss statement were most important, the content of the commentary information was the second most important, and the design of the financial statement was the third most important. Farmers using an intuitive decision-making process perceived problem detection to be easier if the information was designed to fit the intuitive process. However, farmers using an analytic decision-making process did not perceive problem detection to be easier if the accounting information was designed to fit the analytic process. Also they valued the information designed for the intuitive process.     

基建项目竣工财务决算编制及有关问题的处理

基建项目竣工财务决算是反映基建项目投资效益和建设成果的重要文件。文章就编制基建财务决算过程中的资料收集、清理核算帐目、编制财务决算工作底稿、编制正式财务决算表、编写财务情况说明书等各个节段的具体操作问题提出了处理方法     

水产行业财务管理存在的问题及对策

改革开放以来,水产行业在解决社会就业、增加国家财政收入、发展高新技术、支援国家经济建设等各方面发挥着越来越重要的作用,已经成为拉动我国经济增长的一个不可或缺的因素。但是,我国水产行业仍存在许多缺陷和不足,人员素质低、配置存在漏洞,财务报表失真、财务监督机制不严格健全,成本意识淡化、成本管理弱化,财务人员责权不对。为此,应建立正确的财务管理理念、建立完善的财务管理制度,加强外在监督、规范会计报表审计工作,增强管理人员专业技能、提高管理人员修养素质,提高水产行业财务管理水平。     

Secure property right as a determinant of SME’s access to formal credit in Ghana: dynamics between Micro-finance Institutions and Universal Banks

Does registered land title help to improve tenure security and enhance one’s chances of securing a loan from formal financial institutions? This question continues to sharply divide opinions among academics, policy-makers and international development partners. The long running debate on the subject of ‘Property in the Commons’, which serves as the ideological origin of what has become known as ‘Washington Consensus’ in contemporary times claims that there is positive correlation between the possession of registered land title and access to credit. However, this has often received considerable rebuttals. Even if the ‘Washington Consensus’ is accepted, the argument is still laced with some fundamental difficulty because it inherently assumes and treats financial institutions as a homogenous class of business. Yet financial institutions exhibit greater diversity in their operations and decision-making process. This paper attempts to contribute towards developing improved understanding between the ‘secure land title and access to credit relationship’ by disaggregating financial institutions into Micro-finance and Universal Banks (UBs) and examining what role secure land title play in granting credit from the perspectives of these two categories of financial institutions. To achieve this, field level investigations were conducted amongst officials of both Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) and UBs in Ghana using structured questionnaires. A total of 200 questionnaires – 100 each to MFI and Universal Banks were administered of which a response rate of 51 and 57 was, respectively, achieved. The data were analysed using various non-parametric statistics. The study amongst other things established that UBs and MFIs differ in their opinions on how important secure titles are in the lending process and the nature of the influence they can exert on the final lending decision. It was established that both categories of lenders do regard secure titles as important but whether or not it will influence their decision to accept a given landed property as collateral varies across lender types.     

试论林业会计目标

本文在阐述会计理论体系和影响林业会计环境因素的基础上,提出了林业会计目标应与林业企业经营目标相一致,林业会计的基本目标应包括生态效益和社会效益;林业会计的具体目标应在提供财务会计信息基础上,采用多重计量方法,增加生态效益和社会效益的会计核算资料,以满足信息使用者需要和改进会计信息质量特征。     

USUFRUCT AND USURY: AN ANALYSIS OF LAND LEASING IN EAST JAVA*

On Java, land leasing functions as a credit instrument when the entire rent is paid in advance. The rights obtained by the tenant/lender are the 'price' of the loan made to the land owner/borrower. A model of such transactions shows that the area leased and duration of the lease are substitutes in raising a loan of given size and that the substitution rate is related to the term structure of interest rates.     

森林生态会计核算研究

现行会计体系存在两个主要缺陷:忽视危及经济持续生产能力的自然资源匮乏;忽视环境质量下降会危及人类的健康与福利。从而引起GDP指标的虚增,误导社会资源的有效配置。借助森林生态学、生态经济学,可在实践上构建起具有可操作性的森林生态会计,以有效反映生态信息及生态效益的外部性价值,制约对生态环境的破坏,并为我国已实施的巨额森林生态效益的资金补偿提供微观配置依据。     

谈建立事企分体运行会计核算及财务管理体系——兼与朱堂华、李家一同志商榷

目前地勘单位财务工作中存在着各地勘单位账簿设置不尽相同、报表填写思路不明确等问题。建立地勘单位的事企分体运行的会计核算和财务管理体系势在必行,且有政策依据。由于目前地勘单位的改革只限于职能改革,即有事业性质又可从事生产经营。因此,事企分轨建行、分开核算,执行不同的财务政策只能是事业职能和企业职能分开;经营性资产和非经营性资产分开;事业拔款和企业收入分开,而不能将事业人员和企业人员分开。也不能要求地勘单位编制汇总会计报表。这样做,更适合目前地勘单位实际。     

试析地质事业单位会计信息质量

地质事业单位的改革越深入,提高其会计核算质量就越紧迫。目前地质事业单位的会计核算信息存在着会计信息不全、不实、不规范、不对称、不及时、透明度不高等问题。出现这些问题的原因是制度不完善,数据处理技术水平不高,会计人员业务水平参差不齐和会计行业管理问题。为提高地质事业单位会计信息质量,应从五个方面入手,即推进会计电算化工作,加强财会管理制度建设,改革会计人员管理体制,加强会计稽核工作,最大限度地抑制会计信息不对称。     

Financial Reporting in Agriculture: In Need of A Reliable System

Farm managers and lenders are becoming increasingly aware of the need for thorough and accurate farm financial management.1 The current extended agricultural recession magnifies this need. Increased current loan losses and the increasing financial stress of farm operators have prompted lending institutions, government agencies and farmers to determine what has gone wrong in the area of farm financial management and, more importantly, to search out ways to reduce the frequency of farm business failure. The use of inadequate financial reporting systems is viewed as one source of the problem.     

Case Studies of Farmers' Use of Information Systems

Exploratory case study research was initiated to study the evolution of management information systems and their use in operational and strategic decisions. The unit of analysis was the management team on farms with innovative or successful information systems. Human factors, such as an analytical nature and commitment to lifelong learning, were perceived to be the most important common elements. Production variables often were critical success factors. Managers annually developed financial statements; enterprise and "what if" analyses were conducted regularly. Learning about questions that innovative producers have difficulty addressing was time-consuming but instructive with respect to research and educational needs.     

基于AHP评价法的中国农村商业银行信贷风险预警系统构建的实证研究

农村商业银行在提供金融服务的同时,也面临来自借款人层面的信贷风险.而这种信贷风险的产生源于信贷市场中的信息不对称、有限理性和羊群效应等.文章利用层次分析法,从借款人角度构建农村商业银行信贷风险的预警体系,设计农村商业银行信贷风险的控制策略.并用江苏省10家农村商业银行2018年的数据进行验证,研究结论显示:个别农商行的...     

利率市场化改革如何影响了农村正规金融对非正规金融的替代性?

本文基于"技术内生效应"的视角研究了利率市场化改革对农村正规与非正规金融替代性的影响。本文指出利率市场化改革对农村正规金融利率调整的效应有三种,分别是直接名义收益效应、农户类型异质的借款人结构类型效应和正规金融机构解决信息不对称与监督问题的技术内生效应,这三种效应导致农村正规金融对非正规金融的替代呈倒"U"形关系。本文的实证研究表明利率市场化改革对正规与非正规金融替代性主要不是源于利率价格变动的名义收益效应,而是与信息不对称问题密切相关的借款人结构类型效应与技术内生效应。本文的政策含义在于,农村利率市场化改革要考虑普惠金融与金融精准扶贫的有效性,同时要考虑农村的信息不对称问题并做好激励机制设计。     

A factor-income approach to estimating grassland protection subsidy payments to livestock herders in Inner Mongolia,China

This paper contributes to the growing literature on land use policies designed to prevent livestock overgrazing. It offers a straightforward factor-income approach to calculating payments for ecosystem services (PES) to livestock producers who reduce or suspend grazing for the purpose of grassland restoration. Our approach requires only cross-sectional farm-level accounting data and is thus feasible where policies have either not yet been applied or specialized data is sparse, as is common in many developing regions. We apply and validate this approach with empirical analysis of sheep and goat herders in the Ulanqab prefecture in Inner Mongolia, China where herders currently receive payments in exchange for reduced grazing intensity on vulnerable land. However, observed stocking rates are still commonly higher than recommended. Our results suggest payments are currently insufficient to offset the financial loss incurred by herders who reduce their grazing intensity, a finding consistent with previous studies. Using an approach we refer to as the factor-income method, we estimate and validate new levels of recommended payments. This demonstrates how future payments could be tailored to meet the financial needs of individual herding communities using basic farm-level data.     

An interdisciplinary approach to regional land use analysis using GIS, with applications to the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica

Policy makers and other stakeholders concerned with regional rural development increasingly face the need for instruments that can improve transparency in the policy debate and that enhance understanding of opportunities for and limitations to development. To this end, a methodology called SOLUS (Sustainable Options for Land Use) was developed by an interdisciplinary team of scientists over a 10-year period in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica. The main tools of SOLUS include a linear programming (LP) model, two expert systems that define technical coefficients for a large number of production activities, and a geographic information system (GIS). A five-step procedure was developed for GIS to spatially reference biophysical and economic parameters, to create input for the expert systems and the LP model, to store and spatially reference model output data, and to create maps of both model input and output data. SOLUS can be used to evaluate the potential effects of alternative policies and incentive structures on the performance of the agricultural sector. A number of practical applications demonstrate SOLUS's capability to quantify trade-offs between economic objectives (income, employment) and environmental sustainability (soil nutrient balances, pesticide use, greenhouse gas emissions). GIS-created maps visualize the spatial aspects of such trade-offs and indicate hotspots where local goals may conflict with regional goals.