Sense and Sustainability: Sustainability as an Objective in International Agricultural Research

This paper first discusses how to use sustainability as a criterion by which to evaluate agricultural research, then illustrates the difficulties inherent in applying the criterion and finally draws implications for international agricultural research. Seven propositions relating to sustainability are stated. Agricultural researchers are urged to (a) recognize the importance of the sustainability of agricultural systems. (b) devise appropriate ways to measure sustainability, (c) empirically examine the sustainability of some well-defined cropping or farming systems, (d) define the externalities that exist in such systems, and (e) develop methods to measure those externalities.     

Noneconomic Distortions in International Agricultural Trade:

A U.S. import demand model for palm oil empirically addresses the objectives of ascertaining whether significant shifts in U.S. import patterns for palm oil followed an American Soybean Association negative informational campaign against "fatty" tropical oils and whether factors such as exchange rates significantly affected the decline of U.S. palm oil imports after the campaign. Evidence suggests that structural change in U.S. import demand for palm oil followed commencement of the campaign, including significant changes in the own- and cross-price responsiveness of palm oil. Results also indicate that exchange rates did not contribute to declining U.S. palm oil imports.     

Policy and Management Work within International Agricultural Research

The diversity of players in the field of agricultural (and, more generally, rural) policy and management research is sketched in a global overview of relevant research resources, and the small but important part played by the CGIAR Centres in this is explored, particularly where it has maximum value in terms of international public goods, and for strategic links to other parts of the CGIAR portfolio. The patchy and often slender (and perhaps diminishing in specific cases) capacity of national agricultural policy research and analysis units in the less-developed world to deliver the needed research products is examined.     

农业国际化竞争与提高我国农业国际竞争力

随着经济全球化进程加快 ,农业国际化不断推进。农业国际化竞争给世界各国农业带来深刻而广泛的影响 ,推动全球农业快速向前发展。深入研究农业国际化趋势 ,深刻认识我国农业面临的新形势、新挑战 ,采取有效应对措施 ,提高我国农业综合素质 ,对于提高我国农业国际竞争力 ,积极参与农业国际化竞争 ,加快新阶段农业和农村经济发展 ,具有重要意义。一、农业国际化进程日益加快　　农业国际化是全球农业生产力水平不断提高的结果 ,是世界农业加快发展的必然趋势。进入 2 0世纪末 ,随着各国农业市场化程度的提高 ,以及世界性新的农业科技革命的形…     

Agricultural Extension Policy in Australia: Public Funding And Market Failure

Trends in public expenditure on agricultural extension are examined for Agriculture Departments in four States. There is little evidence that the share of public resources going to extension has declined. However, new demands have meant that the nature of extension has changed. A strategic approach to examining issues, such as land degradation, for the source of market failure may better guide the use of scarce public resources than the traditional focus on the public goods characteristics of research and extension. The case for evaluating broad functions such as research and extension is becoming more questionable as these functions become more diverse.     

我国农产品国际贸易研究方面的问题及建议

我国加入WTO已有一年的时间,从这段时期农产品国际贸易领域野出现的现象与问题出发,本文对比此前国内学者专家的预测分析,提出了关于农产品贸易研究方面加强的几个方面：（1）细分市场;（2）市场方面判定农产品竞争力;（3）用动态的观点和方式进行研究。     

武汉市财政农业科技投入模式研究

本文探讨了武汉市农业科技投入模式及其影响因素。通过分析近15年武汉市财政农业科技经费的分配和使用情况,总结了该市五种主要的投入模式,并提出了进一步深化农业科研体制改革、建立农业科研资金高效管理运作机制等政策建议。     

迈向中国农业政策研究新阶段--中国农业政策研究国际研讨会暨国家农业政策开放实验室项目启动会议综述

中国农业政策研究国际研讨会于2 0 0 4年 6月 2 3— 2 4日在北京召开。与会代表有中国政府官员、学者、国际知名经济学家、海外华人学者共一百余人。会议的宗旨在于对中国目前面临的急迫的政策问题进行研讨 ,同时会议也正式启动了国家农业政策开放实验室项目 ,旨在通过现代经济     

Productivity of Agricultural Labour and Land: An International Comparison

This paper examines partial agricultural land and labour productivity in 1975 and 1980, for different world regions. The results suggest that land and labour productivity are higher in developed countries relative to developing countries. However, agricultural labour productivity differences are more marked than those for agricultural land productivity. The productivity values for 1975 and 1980 indicate a widening of productivity differences, more so in the case of agricultural labour than land. The paper also proposes an alternative approach to estimating agricultural land and labour productivity. This approach, which regresses agricultural labour productivity on a given level of agricultural land productivity, suggests a narrowing of agricultural land productivity differences, relative to the initial approach, across Africa, Asia and Europe during the 1975-1980 period. A brief discussion of the agricultural development policy implications of the results concludes the paper.     

中加菜籽油期货市场波动溢出实证研究

利用误差修正模型、BEKK-GARCH模型和格兰杰因果关系实证研究了加拿大和中国菜籽油期货市场之间的信息传导、波动溢出和价格引导关系。实证结果显示：这两个市场之间存在一定的信息传导关系;加拿大菜籽油期货市场对中国菜籽油期货市场存在显著的波动溢出效应,而中国菜籽油期货市场对加拿大菜籽油期货市场的波动溢出不显著;短期内加拿大菜籽油期货市场对中国菜籽油期货市场的价格引导作用更强些,这与加拿大菜籽油期货市场是全球菜籽油定价中心的实际相吻合,而中国菜籽油期货市场的竞争力有待进一步提升。     

Agricultural extension policy in Australia: the good, the bad and the misguided

In most states of Australia, agricultural extension policies and practices have increasingly been based on considerations of private/public goods, user pays and cost recovery. In addition, the delivery of extension has been strongly influenced by changing administrative structures and a change in the paradigm within which the extension community operates. These changes have had major impacts, including more extension being delivered by the private sector. There are positive aspects to the changes and, for some issues, they are appropriate. However, we have a number of reservations, particularly about the effectiveness of current extension systems in assisting the adoption of complex environmental and farming system technologies.     

Measuring Integration and Efficiency in International Agricultural Markets

This paper critiques the methods used to investigate integration and efficiency in international markets. Integration is best reflected by flow-based indicators of tradability, while efficiency is related to price-based notions of market equilibrium. Data insufficiency poses a serious constraint because empirical tests that rely on just prices cannot separate tests of the market efficiency hypothesis from tests of the strong assumptions underpinning model specification. Finally, even if market efficiency holds, there may nonetheless be considerable social inefficiency remaining due to trade barriers and excessive costs of commerce.     

中国农产品贸易：最近20年的变化

中国经济正在不断地走向国际化 ,并在国际经济中扮演越来越重要的角色 ;中国农业贸易也列身于这种成长演变之中 ,并且已经成为世界农产品贸易大国。中国农产品生产、贸易和消费的状况对世界农产品贸易格局和市场状况有着重要的影响。本文主要利用最近 2 0年的中国农产品贸易数据来分析中国农产品贸易 ① 的变化 ,以期反映中国农产品贸易演变的主要结果 ,从而有助于判断中国农产品贸易的发展趋向。汇率、关税、补贴等与农产品贸易相关的政策、体制以及贸易组织方面的变化也应当是农产品贸易变化的重要组成部分 ,但限于本文的目标和范围 ,这里…     

Problems and Challenges in Reforming International Agricultural Economics

Starting from the premise that the agricultural economics profession is defined primarily by the range of problems on which it works, as opposed to the initial or developmental training of the individuals, the traditional analyses base narrowly on the neoclassical paradigm are increasingly insufficient for the problems commonly found in the agri-food industry. Two areas in which the profession is particularly weak are the economics and evolution of institutions, and the human capital component in economic development. For the latter, it includes both matching training to the nature and scope of problems facing individuals and the economics of human capital development and maintenance for a viable and growing agri-food industry. As well, new areas of endeavour such as environmental sustainability and property rights associated with biotechnology offer opportunity for leadership from the profession. Finally, with increasingly complex and interdependent problems in the agri-food sector, as well as the need to integrate processes for change into the analytical tool kit of the profession, the concept of strategic linkages across disciplines and professions will need to be pursued. Without such a multidisciplinary interdisciplinary approach, professional analysis founded narrowly on the neoclassical paradigm defeats the problem solving strength the profession has nurtured     

A Review of International Agricultural Supply Response

Existine literature has orovided a wide ranee of estimates for supply elasticities. This study reviews agricultural supply response in developed and developing countries. The main obiective is to provide an understanding of the causal factors accounthg for the diversity of estimates. It is discussed that the estimated elasticities vary depending on the methodology used, the time period the cover, the definition of price variable, and the type of data utilized: The various methodologies employed to estimate supply elasticities are discussed. Finally, some conclusions are derived which are supported by the theory and the weight of the evidence.