Policy support and emerging farmer professional cooperatives in rural China

Most farms in China are small and vulnerable to the forces of powerful markets. Recognizing the challenges of small farming, China has promoted farmer professional cooperatives (FPCs) during the past two decades. The overall goal of this study is to analyze the emergence and current status of FPCs, the nature of recent policy initiatives and the role of government policies that have played in promoting recent trends. Based on a unique panel data from two rounds of national representative surveys of 380 villages in 2003 and 2009, this paper shows that while there was nearly no FPC in late 1990s, there were FPCs in 21% of China's villages and these FPCs provided services to about 24 million farm households in 2008. The determinants of FPC analysis show that the role of the government is of primary importance. Policy support measures and, most likely, the new legal setting in China after the passage of the 2006 FPC law, account for most of the growth of FPCs.     

双重二元经济条件下失地农民经济补偿问题研究

在农村与城市、计划与市场的双重二元经济条件下,失地农民问题日显突出。由于地方政府权力定位不当、村集体所有权虚置等原因,农民经济补偿方面存在较大分歧。本文简述了失地农民现状,分析了现行征地补偿安置标准,指出了失地农民经济补偿问题,并提出了相关对策。     

Some evidence on debt-related determinants of investment and consumption in heavily indebted countries

Zusammenfassung Zur Evidenz schuldenabh?ngiger Bestimmungsgründe der Investitionen und des Konsums in stark verschuldeten L?ndern. — In den meisten stark verschuldeten L?ndern war die Investitionst?tigkeit seit 1982 gering. Die weitgehend anerkannte Lehrmeinung vom Schuldenüberhang versteht den Investitionsrückgang als moral-hazard-Problem: eine gro\e Schuldenlast erh?ht den Anreiz, mehr zu konsumieren, weil im alternativen Fall einer verst?rkten Investitionst?tigkeit der Grenznutzen der Investitionen dem Gl?ubiger zukommen würde. Die Verfasser entwikkeln zun?chst einige Hypothesen über die optimalen Reaktionen eines in der Kreditaufnahme beschr?nkten Schuldnerlandes auf eine Erh?hung der Schulden sowie auf Ver?nderungen der Kreditrestriktionen und Zinss?tze. Danach stellen sie diese Hypothesen den Aussagen gegenüber, die sich aus der Lehre vom Schuldenüberhang ableiten lassen. Empirische Spezifizierungen der konventionellen Investitions- und Konsumfunktionen (Hypothese des permanenten Einkommens) führen dazu, die Lehre vom Schuldenüberhang abzulehnen, und zeigen vielmehr, da\ der Wechsel von positiven zu negativen Transferzahlungen des Auslands an die Schuldnerl?nder ein wichtiger Grund für den Investitionsrückgang in den Schuldnerl?ndern ist. Die wesentliche wirtschaftspolitische Schlu\folgerung daraus ist, da\ der 1989 erfolgte Wechsel im internationalen Schulden-management (die Brady-Initiative) — der die Schuldenentlastung st?rker betonte als das Problem, neue Kredite zu bekommen — die Investitionst?tigkeit in den Schuldnerl?ndern nicht anregen wird. Statt dessen bedürfen diese L?nder der Zuführung neuer Finanzmittel, um vorteilhafte Investitionschancen wahrnehmen zu k?nnen.

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Résumé Quelque évidence pour l’influence de la dette sur l’investissement et la consommation aux pays gravement endettés. — L’investissement aux plusieurs pays gravement endettés a été très faible depuis l’année 1982. La proposition de la dette excédante qui est largement acceptée explique la chute de l’investissement comme un problème du ?moral hazard?: la dette pesante incite la consommation parce qu’au cas alternatif d’une augmentation de l’investissement le revenu marginal de l’investissement favorise le créancier. L’étude développe quelques hypothèses sur les réactions optimales d’un pays débiteur qui résultent d’une augmentation de dettes et d’un changement de la restriction de crédit et du taux d’intérêt. Puis les auteurs les met en face avec les prédictions venant de la proposition de la dette excédante. Les spécifications empiriques des fonctions conventionnelles de l’investissement et de la consommation mènent à rejeter la proposition de la dette excédante et montrent que l’altération des transferts étrangers en direction négative est une explication importante de la chute de l’investissement des pays débiteurs. La conclusion importante pour la politique économique est que le changement dans le management international des crédits (l’initiative de Brady) ne poussera pas l’investissement aux pays débiteurs. Ceux pays-ci ont besoin d’une infusion de nouveaux capitaux pour profiter des occasions de l’investissement avantageux.

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Resumen Alguna evidencia de los determinantes de la inversion y del consumo relacionados con la deuda en paises altamente endeudados. — Después de 1982 la inversión ha sido débil en la mayoria de los países altamente endeudados. La muy difundida proposición del exceso de deuda interpreta la baja inversión como un problema de “moral hazard”. En este trabajo primero se desarrollan varias hipótesis sobre las reacciones óptimas de un pais deudor sometido a crédito limitado a un aumento de la deuda, a variaciones del limite de crédito y a cambios en las tasas de interés, para después contrastar estas reacciones con las predicciones derivadas de la proposición del exceso de deuda. Las especificaciones empiricas de las funciones de inversion y consumo convencionales llevan a un rechazo de la proposition del exceso de deuda, pero encuentran que el cambio de transferencias positivas a negativas a los países endeudados es una importante explicación para la baja inversión. La conclusion importante para la politica es que el cambio en el manejo internacional de la deuda ocurrido en 1989 (la iniciativa de Brady) no acelerará la inversión en los paises deudores. Más bien, estos países necesitarían una infusión de nuevos fondos para poder aprovechar las oportunidades beneficiosas de inversión.

     

Effects of public investment on sectoral private investment: A factor augmented VAR approach

Public investment decreases aggregate private investment in both neoclassical and Keynesian models. There are no findings, however, on how public investment affects private investment on a disaggregated basis, such as sectoral private investment. More specifically, previous research has neglected the distinctions of sectoral investment behavior in response to public investment and the possibility of crowd-in effects in some industries, such as industries blessed with public demand. Meanwhile, public investment decreases sectoral private investment not only by keeping rental cost high, but also by differences in the resource misallocation effect of public investment itself; one sector receives a positive wealth effect while another suffers the opposite. In this paper we use a factor-augmented VAR (FAVAR), a model capable of analyzing large-scale VAR models, to investigate the extent to which public investment is crowded out or crowded in in different categories of industrial investment. Our results demonstrate that public investment confers different effects, both quantitative and qualitative, in individual sectors. This implies that public investment reaps different benefits in different sectors and that it can bring the worse effect of resource misallocation on some sectors.     

辽宁传统装备制造产业改造的创业投资支持

辽宁老工业基地传统优势产业———装备制造业的兴衰影响着这一地区经济的发展和社会的稳定,传统制造产业的改造需要突破技术创新、管理创新以及制度创新的屏障,创业投资的特性及国外成熟经验显示这种投资方式适应传统产业改造的创新要求,因此,文章在最后提出了如何利用创业投资服务于辽宁装备制造业改造的一些建议。     

Cooperative and predatory advertising: Effects on oligopoly advertising investment

An oligopolist's advertising behavior depends upon the externalities generated. Negative externalities occur when the firm's advertising gains in sales are a result of a loss to the rest of the industry. On the other hand, positive externalities may result because advertising by any single firm may increase that firm's sales while at the same time increasing sales in the rest of the industry.In the literature these types of externalities are referred to as "predatory advertising" and "cooperative advertising," respectively. Market shares are redistributed when advertising is purely predatory, and advertising is a public good when advertising is purely cooperative. The effect of advertising externalities on the firm's incentive to advertise is investigated in this paper.     

Interrelationships in maize markets in Southern Africa I: Structural effects of the farmer support programme

A dynamic linear programming matrix is assembled in order to model the Southern African summer grain industry. Supply, demand and production risk, including interactions with production substitutes, are considered. The model is used to evaluate the possible structural effects of the farmer support programme (FSP) taking into account the interrelationships in grain markets in Southern Africa. The effects are evaluated under different marketing policies with respect to changes in land use, prices and labour requirements. A macro view is taken.

An effective FSP will lead to structural changes in land use, prices of products and labour requirements. The effect of the FSP on production, prices and labour will not only vary according to the success in changing over from subsistence maize production to commercial farming in the developing areas, but is also dependent on marketing policies in general. The interrelationships in agriculture and the economy emphasise the need for an overall policy plan.     

Interrelationships in maize markets in Southern Africa II: Welfare aspects of the farmer support programme

Welfare aspects of a successful farmer support programme (FSP) in the developing areas of Southern Africa are analysed by utilizing a sectoral linear programming model that considers the interrelationships in agricultural markets in Southern Africa. The effect of an effective FSP on a specific interest group with respect to welfare transfers, for example consumers of a specific product or producers in a specific region, will depend on the marketing policy followed, as well as on the effectiveness of the FSP. This highlights the need for an overall policy plan which considers all related industries, products and other relevant factors simultaneously. When interests conflict, as is the case with an effective FSP, policy makers cannot escape the necessity of choosing between conflicting interests. They should, however, make explicit their own value judgement or that of the institution being served.     

对农民工工资问题的几点认识

农民工工资水平的提高,是我国经济增长的客观要求,是工业发展到中期阶段的客观要求,因而是具有必然性的。农民工工资水平的提高,既有不利影响,也有积极作用。企业要面对现实,在技术进步、提高劳动生产率等方面下功夫；东部发达地区则应在产业结构的调整、升级、转移上下功夫。     

Access to the agricultural market for small farmers in Southern Africa: The farmer support programme

Two recent events have led to a re‐evaluation of the appropriate approach to agricultural development in the self‐governing and independent national states in Southern Africa. First, the support and establishment of private farmers is generally emphasized in the agricultural development policies of these states. Although no clear‐cut strategies for implementation have emerged, greater attention is being given to research on the small farmer approach which is prominent in the literature on agricultural development. Second, an investigation into the financing of agriculture in the self‐governing and independent national states has recently been concluded within the system for multilateral co‐operation between the SATBVC states. The proposals emanating from this investigation also conform with the principles of the small farmer approach. The purpose of this paper is to motivate the need for a small farmer approach, and to show how the principles of this approach can be transformed into operational policy. In this regard the design of a farmer support programme is discussed.     

沿海城市投资对开发区经济发展的影响

构建以广州、天津、大连等16个沿海经济技术开发区时间序列的GDP为因变量,以各开发区依托城市时间序列累计投资为自变量的面板数据模型,探究了城市投资对开发区经济发展的影响。研究结果表明,城市投资与开发区经济发展呈显著正相关,且在开发区发展的不同时期,城市投资对开发区经济发展的影响是变化的。建议各地规划新建开发区时,应充分考虑城市投资能力对开发区经济发展规模与速度的影响。     

The study on Yangling farmer profession associations

Abstract： Yangling farmer profession associations are developing quickly. The members of associations account for 11% of the total peasant households. The speed of the members＇ income increase is higher three percentage points than the speed of the non-members. However, some problems still exist in the associations, such as the members are not enough much, the mechanism is not sound, the scope of business is small. In order to promote the associations to develop, the authors put forward to improve the one person a ticket system, establish the member funds account, make democratic management sound and let experts guide the associations.     

关于提高西部农民财产性收入的思考

西部农民身处落后的经济环境,财产性收入的来源既没有质量的保证、也缺乏数量的支持,因此,改善西部农民的财产性收入质量的前提是尽快提高其工资性收入和经营性收入;另外,财产性收入和工资性收入之间较强的相关性说明:"创造条件让更多群众拥有财产性收入"的一项有效策略就是提高西部农民的工资性收入。     

冲突与融合:农民工与市民关系研究——基于西安市农民工和市民的社会调查

当前农民工入城已达2亿,如此巨大的外来群体的闯入对城市文明各方面都造成了巨大冲击,其中由此引发的外来农民工群体和原有城市市民群体的紧张关系局面是一个决不容忽视的问题。认清和处理两大群体的关系,消除隔阂、促进理解与融合是保证双方安居乐业、我国经济持续发展和社会和谐的必要前提。本文通过分别对农民工群体和市民群体的社会调查,发现在现阶段,双方的关系是以冲突为主,但双方的理解和融合却是人心所向、大势所趋。随后,本文进行了原因分析,并且给出了政策建议。     

Effects of state-sponsored human capital investment on the selection of training type

Since the 1990s, firms in Japan have reduced their human capital investment in the workplace to minimize costs. Moreover, in response to the increase in the number of non-regular employees and turnover rates, workers need to have greater incentive to make the self-motivated investment in themselves for their self-protection. In this study, we first estimate the effects of workers’ self-motivated investment in themselves on wage rates. Next, we explore who is likely to participate in which training type and accordingly estimate the effects of the self-motivated investment on wage rates by training type. Our estimates controlling for individual-level fixed-effects indicate that the return is significantly positive and particularly high for practical training related to workers’ current jobs, and regular workers tend to self-select these higher-returns programs, while non-regular workers are more likely to enroll in lower-returns programs, such as schooling. This trend in investment in oneself could potentially increase the wage inequality between regular and non-regular workers through the self-selection of training types. Our estimates reveal that receiving the training and education benefit raises the likelihood for workers to participate in a high-return training program regardless of whether they are non-regular or regular workers. This suggests that government benefits on self-investment change workers’ self-selection of training type and serve to promote practical trainings that lead to high returns.     

农产品价格波动对农民收入的影响

随着我国农业政策的完善,政府通过国家宏观调控对农产品价格进行了一定的调整,确保了农民收入的提高。影响农产品价格和农民收入的因素有很多,其中主要在于农业生产技术和生产模式。因此,为了进一步明确农产品波动对农民收入的影响,也为了寻求最好的方案来解决我国农民收入较低的现状,文章分析了投入产出模型结构,并提出了农产品波动与农民收入之间的具体关系式。通过此关系式,提出了增加我国农民收入的主要途径。     

农民增收的公共政策分析

减轻农民负担,增加农民收入是事关农村经济发展和社会稳定的战略性问题.农民增收的政策措施是:调整政策价值取向;健全村民自治制度;加大利益调节力度.     

失地农民与企业社会责任

在工业化下,农民失去土地成为了常态,企业是市场经济的强者而失地社区则是弱者。在这二者之间能否协调发展?本文系统调查了日照市开发区发展的情况,系统分析了失地农民的困难处境,并对存在于失地农民、村级社区、企业和当地政府之间的互动关系进行了研究,最后提出发挥企业社会责任感是帮助失地社区发展的重要途径。