A FARM GROWTH MODEL FOR POLICY ANALYSIS IN AN EXTENSIVE PASTORAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM

The development of a simulation model of an extensive pastoral farming system to assist analysts in their assessment of government policy measures is described. The model was designed to simulate, over a number of years, the physical and financial operation of a sheep and beef production system typically found in the North Island hill country of New Zealand. By manipulating model parameters and data related to prices, costs, taxation and credit, a range of policies can be represented and their effects simulated. The model is used to undertake an ex post analysis of the farm-level impact of the supplementary minimum price scheme in New Zealand and to project farm performance following the abolition of the scheme. Consideration is given to the use of the model to represent sheep and beef production systems elsewhere.     

INTER-REGIONAL FARM EFFICIENCY IN PAKISTAN'S PUNJAB: A FRONTIER PRODUCTION FUNCTION STUDY

Agricultural production efficiency in four irrigated cropping regions of the Punjab province of Pakistan was compared on the basis of a probabilistic frontier production function estimated from whole-farm survey data for the year 1984-85. It is found that the gross income of farmers can be increased by 13% at the current levels of resource use if the production gap between ‘best practice’ and ‘average’ farmers is suitably narrowed in all cropping regions. This will increase profits by up to 40%. No significant difference in technical efficiency was found across the regions. Economic efficiency was similar across all cropping regions except in the cotton region, which had significantly lower economic efficiency due to higher allocative inefficiency, which in turn was attributable to the more dynamic production technologies being adopted in that region.     

FARM INCOME POLICY IN ONTARIO: REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

This paper discusses and evaluates "The Challenge of Abundance" [l]. The recommendations of the Ontario Farm Income Committee are reviewed, the assumptions implicit in the recommendations are presented and the shortcomings of the Report discussed. The author, while finding a number of sound recommendations, ques the extreme emphasis on government intervention and control; the lack of research documentation; the failure to adequately comprehend the dependence of Ontario farmers on inputs from and sales to the rest of Canada and foreign countries; and the absence of a program to assist the majority of farmers who would no longer be allowed to produce food.
LE REVENU AGRICOLE EN ONTARIO: REVISION ET CRITIQUE — Cet article discute et évalue "The Challenge of Abundance" [l]. Les recommandations de la commission ontarienne sur le revenu agricole sont examinées, les assumptions dans les recommandations sont présentées, et les imperfections du rapport sont discutées, Tout en constatant plusieurs recommandations sérieuses, l'auteur interroge l'appuie intense donné à l'intervention et l'autorité govememental; le manque de documentation; l'incompréhension vis à vis la dépendance du fermier ontarien dans la vente au reste du Canada et à l'étranger; et l'absence d'un programme qui assisterait la majorité des fermiers qui ne sont plus permis de produire les aliments.     

A PRINCIPLE COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF INPUTS IN A PRODUCTION FUNCTION

A production function fitted on data for 232 production regions of the South African Agriculture, yielded negative signs for the land and machinery inputs. The inputs were then transformed into standardised orthogonal variates. A production function was derived from the orthogonal variates by dropping components that contributed little to the resource variation. The t-values in the latter function showed a substantial improvement on that of the first function, and the machinery input turned positive. A component analysis on all the input factors, including farm income, indicates that farmers pay a premium for extensive farming land which is not reflected in their income. This may be attributed to more leisure time enjoyed by livestock farmers, or more satisfaction derived from this type of farming.     

FARM HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION IN THE PRESENCE OF RESTRICTIONS ON DEBT: THEORY AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

In this paper a two period life cycle model of the farm household is constructed allowing for production and restrictions on debt in which the consumption and production decisions of the farm household are simultaneous. It is shown that the farm household's production responses to exogenous changes may be qualitatively different to that predicted by the profit-maximising model when all markets are perfect. In particular, when the household is debt constrained, ‘perverse’ output effects are possible with output increasing in response to output price decreases. Further, for such households, compensation payments will have production effects. Finally, the financial situation of the farm has an impact on production for debt constrained farms.     

CHANGES IN FARM PRODUCTION UNDER INTENSIVE FARM MANAGEMENT ADVICE*

This investigation examines the impact of intensive farm management advice on levels and productivities of resource use on samples of farms. A total of 60 members of 13 farm management advisory services and 60 non-members, matched by locality, were studied in two farming regions of Western Australia. A production model has been formulated and analysed which discriminates between effects of differences and changes in resource use and productivity over time and between members and non-members. Major differences between members and non-members over time have been rates of growth of inputs and outputs rather than systematic changes of production relationships.     

THE USE OF A DECISION MAKER'S UTILITY FUNCTION IN A LINEAR PROGRAMMING ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL POLICY*

A decision theoretic approach to agricultural policy decision making is examined to discover whether a utility function of an Australian Wool Corporation decision maker can be established and, if so, whether this can be used to improve the policy analysing performance of an agricultural sector linear programming model. After discussing the theoretical requirements of the utility function elicitation and the elicitation procedures, the characteristics of the resulting functions are examined. A means for its inclusion in a linear programming framework is described and some analysis of policy is carried out. The general conclusions are that the relevance of the agricultural sector analysis is enhanced by the use of such a utility function.     

农业适度规模经营：CES生产函数下的解释

[目的]经济学中经常出现这一现象,在生产要素替代关系相对微弱的情况下,经济总量水平与资源配置效果并非由最优的要素资源所决定,而是取决于最劣的要素资源。为揭示我国农业适度规模经营中是否存在"木桶效应",[方法]利用1990—2014年国有农场相关数据,通过对CES生产函数的拓展与改良,分析了我国农业适度规模经营中的要素资源配置问题。[结果]"木桶效应"存在于我国农业适度规模经营中,土地和劳动力成为发展农业适度规模经营的"短板"要素;[结论]虽然新型农业生产要素对粮食增量产生的作用越来越明显,然而土地资源的不可替代性以及其他要素对劳动力的替代存在边界,使得农业适度规模中的资源配置效果最终由土地和劳动力决定;农业适度规模经营并非是追求单一生产要素的扩张,而是实现土地、劳动力、农业资本、农业机械、农资、农业科技等全要素的高效组合。     

AGGREGATION OF MICRO-FUNCTIONS TO OBTAIN A WHOLE-FARM PRODUCTION FUNCTION*

In this paper, a re-assessment of the aggregation problem in farm production functions is attempted. Aggregation starts from measurable farm management entities such as the milking cow, breeding ewe etc., and appropriate whole farm production functions are derived that are consistent with these biological units of farming, or as they will be called, the micro-functions of agriculture. The aggregate function, as derived, is based on the geometric means of micro outputs and inputs and could appropriately be said to 'represent' all the micro-functions. It is thus called, later in the paper, the representative production function for the farm firm.     

中国桑蚕产业主产区比较优势分析

[目的]进入21世纪以来,伴随着桑蚕产业空间格局发生的以"东桑西移"为特征的演变,中国桑蚕产业主产省份以及各自的比较优势都发生了深刻变化。[方法]文章借助产业集中度、产业比较优势等指标分析方法,对我国桑蚕产业主产区的比较优势进行研究,分析我国桑蚕产业主产区比较优势变迁的影响因素。[结果](1) 2003—2015年间,我国蚕茧产业集中度表现出先下降后上升的特点;(2)广西、浙江、重庆、云南、陕西、四川6省份桑蚕产业具有显著规模优势(SAC 2)传统桑蚕产业大省浙江省的生产效率比较优势明显下滑,广西和云南两省综合比较优势持续提升,产业生产明显出现向西部和中部地区转移的现象;(3)资源、经济、市场、技术、生态、政策等6个方面因素,共同影响了我国桑蚕产业主产区比较优势的形成和变迁。[结论]要加强西部茧桑蚕产业链建设,加大桑蚕产业宏观调控力度,加快技术创新,降低生产成本,提高桑蚕产业综合开发水平,巩固和推动广西、云南等具有比较优势的桑蚕产业新兴主产区发展。     

A MICRO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF TEA PRODUCTION USING A SEPARABLE RESTRICTED PROFIT FUNCTION

To derive policy-relevant information, the translog form of a separable restricted profit function was used to model empirically estate tea production in Sri Lanka. Data consisted of 87 observations of prices and quantities for various inputs and outputs from 54 different Sri Lankan tea estates. In different tests, the estimated model respected generally the properties implied by underlying assumptions. Results indicated increasing economies of scale in the factory across the sample and optimal field size to be between 300 and 400 hectares. Amongst estimated short-term elasticities, the supply elasticity of made tea was found to be +0.94.     

IMPACTS OF TAXES TO REDUCE AGRICHEMICAL USE WHEN FARM POLICY IS ENDOGENOUS

The economic impacts of policies to reduce water pollution from agriculture have been explored in a number of studies. A standard assumption in this literature is that farm income support policies are given. However, the modern public choice view of agricultural policy suggests that significant environmental initiatives in agriculture would likely be accompanied by changes in farm income policies to protect those with a significant stake in agriculture. We explore the potential effects of such compensating adjustments on the costs and effectiveness of taxes on polluting chemical inputs in US corn production. We find that compensating farm policy adjustments can greatly increase the costs and reduce the effectiveness of the environmental protection measure. The results also indicate the potentially high costs of poor policy co-ordination.     

AN ANALYSIS OF PEASANT FARM PRODUCTION UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY*

In this paper the impact of cotton on a traditional food crop system in a semi-arid area of Kenya is analysed using a linear programming model and sensitivity analysis. Alternative criteria, maximax, maximin, and a standard average return maximand, are used in turn. The solutions are all evaluated as ‘best year’, ‘worst year’, and average values. This gives a range of results that cakes account of the uncertainty in the farming situation. Several policy conclusions follow from the analysis. It is argued that the approach used is more realistic than an approach in which a single maximand is used, and that the simplicity of the approach brings it within reach of many involved in farm production analysis.     

我国粮食生产补贴政策浅析

文章回顾梳理了2004年以来中央出台的强农惠农政策,指出粮食生产补贴政策体系初步建立。从4个方面阐述了补贴政策有力地促进了粮食生产,一是调动了生产积极性,二是改善了生产装备条件,三是促进了关键技术落实,四是促进了生产方式转变。最后,提出完善粮食生产补贴政策的地点建议:一要稳定收入补贴,二要强化技术补贴,三要探索机制补贴,四要建立大县大户补贴。