Energy substitutability in transition agriculture: estimates and implications for Hungary

Subsidised energy prices in pre‐transition Hungary had led to excessive energy intensity in the agricultural sector. Transition has resulted in steep input price increases. In this study, Allen and Morishima elasticities of substitution are estimated to study the effects of these price changes on energy use, chemical input use, capital formation and employment. Panel data methods, Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and instrument exogeneity tests are used to specify and estimate technology and substitution elasticities. Results indicate that indirect price policy may be effective in controlling energy consumption. The sustained increases in energy and chemical input prices have worked together to restrict energy and chemical input use, and the substitutability between energy, capital and labour has prevented the capital shrinkage and agricultural unemployment situations from being worse. The Hungarian push towards lower energy intensity may be best pursued through sustained energy price increases rather than capital subsidies.     

湖北省农村劳动力转移对农业生产率的影响分析

随着湖北省城镇化进程加快,大量农村劳动力转移影响了农村经济的稳定可持续发展。文章对湖北省农村劳动力现状及劳动力转移特点进行分析发现,农村劳动力转移具有青壮年居多、大多为初中文化程度和主要流向省外的特点。该文进而研究了湖北省农村劳动力转移对农业生产率的影响,结果表明,由于生产技术的不断提高,湖北省农村劳动力转移总体上并未对农业生产率产生严重的负面影响,并针对湖北省农村劳动力现状,从提高农村劳动力自身素质、加大资本投入及通过高科技提高自然资源使用率等方面提出建议,以保障湖北省农业生产率的提高。     

Production costs and input substitution in Zimbabwe's smallholder agriculture

In this study, we estimate production costs and elasticities of factor substitution for Zimbabwean smallholders, using a dual (cost function) approach with detailed data on prices paid and received by each of 65 farms across six survey sites over two years. We find that 95% of observed farm choices are consistent with optimal input use, and that there is moderate substitutability between labor, biochemical inputs and capital. These results indicate that farmers can substitute between factors as relative prices change, particularly to increase labor use as the rural population grows. By stratifying our sample, we investigate the degree to which production costs differ among the socioeconomic groups, tsting for higher costs among female-headed households (who might be subject to gender discrimination), resource-poor farmers without their own draft animals (who might have less timely operations), and isolated farms far from paved roads (who might have less access to markets and information). We find significant support only for the paved-roads effect, indicating the importance of rural infrastraclure in determining production costs.     

FACTOR SUBSTITUTION IN AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE

Studies of the ease of substitution between inputs in production have generally been carried out within a production framework of an explicit functional form. In this study, a somewhat different approach is followed. A model of derived demand for primary factors of production, land, labour and capital is formulated to enable inferences to be made about the characteristics of the unspecified production function. The model is used to obtain estimates of the pairwise Allen-Uzawa substitution elasticities which are secondary parameters of the underlying production function. The reported FIML estimates from aggregate time series data for the period 1920/21 to 1969/70 indicate very low and marginally different substitution elasticities between different pairs of factors, suggesting that both the Cobb-Douglas and CES production function specifications for the Australian agricultural sector are inappropriate.     

Agricultural technology and child labor: evidence from India

Child labor continues to be a major problem in developing countries, particularly in agricultural countries. The latest ILO global report points out that nine out of every ten child laborers is involved in the agricultural sector. The focus of this article is on the rural sector in India, a country where child labor continues to be prevalent. A number of factors have been found to significantly influence the extent of child labor. This article will focus on the type of technology utilized in the agricultural sector. Technology is divided into two types: biochemical and mechanical. The empirical results indicate that biochemical technology has both positive and negative effects on child labor. However, mechanical technology is found to have a statistically significant and negative impact on child labor.     

Evaluating spatial and temporal variation in agricultural output elasticities in Turkey

This study evaluates spatial variation in the relationship between agricultural output and input use across Turkey. The potential impact of the national agricultural policy reform introduced in 2001 on the spatial variation in agricultural output elasticities across the country was explored. By applying a spatial production function to the province‐level data in 2000 and 2007, spatial heterogeneity in the variance of provincial total factor productivity and the input factor‐output elasticities was identified across the country. Results show that the disparities in agricultural activities and geographic conditions affected return from input factors. Empirical findings from a spatial spillover model also suggest that changes in the input factor‐output elasticities varied significantly across Turkey between 2000 and 2007, after the policy reform. Results suggest that future policy reform that recognizes regional comparative advantage through understanding the geographic heterogeneity of the agricultural sector is important for enhancing Turkey's agricultural output.     

Is it Possible to Utilise the Agricultural Potential of Ukraine under the Current Agrarian System?

The government of Ukraine aims to transform the country into an ‘agricultural superpower at the international level’ with the hope that the sector will gain high foreign currency earnings and become ‘the engine of national economic development’. The large agribusiness corporations have willingly responded to these calls. However, placing hope solely in the corporate sector is inadequate as the key role of agriculture to create business diversity and achieve rural social and environmental objectives will remain unfulfilled. Many other national economies have experienced ‘the offensive’ of capital on agriculture during the twentieth century, with associated negative consequences, thus encouraging them to adopt more balanced agrarian policies which benefit the whole rural population. Utilisation of Ukrainian agricultural potential as an economic growth engine requires a fundamental change in the interpretation of its purpose, which is currently focused on profit‐making export‐oriented commercial activity. The multifunctional nature of the sector needs to be emphasised, the purpose of which is not only the production of agricultural and food products, but also the creation of public benefits, such as the development opportunities and means for existence for 14 million Ukrainian rural inhabitants, maintenance of ecological balance, regeneration of soil fertility and preservation of rural landscapes.     

中国农业资源错配的测算、时空演变特征及影响因素分析

目的 探究中国农业生产要素错配的时空演变特征及其影响因素,为改善要素空间错配,提高农业生产效率提供相关参考和政策建议。方法 文章以资源错配理论为基础构建农业资源错配指数测算框架,选取2000—2019年中国30个省（市、自治区,不含港澳台和西藏）的经济数据测算出农业资本错配指数、劳动力错配指数、土地错配指数以及相关影响因素指标,采用空间计量模型分析其对农业资源错配的影响。结果 （1）农业资本错配、劳动力错配和土地错配在时空上分别展现出不同的演变发展特征,但都呈现出要素错配不断改善的趋势。（2）从实证结果来看,农业经营规模的提高能够显著改善农业资本错配和土地错配,农业种植结构升级能够有效改善农业劳动力错配和土地错配,政府的宏观调控能够有效改善农业资本错配,同时提高农村金融发展水平是改善农业资本错配一种重要方式。（3）区域经济发展水平提高能够通过促进农业生产要素重新组合来改善农业资本错配和劳动力错配,城镇化发展水平提高能够改善劳动力错配和土地错配。结论 中国农业生产要素在不同区域的错配程度在不断改善,农业经营规模、种植结构和经济发展水平是影响要素错配的关键因素,消除要素流动障碍,完善区域联动机制是改善要素错配的重要方式。     

Does human capital raise farm or nonfarm earning more? New insight from a rural Pakistan household panel

This study explores how human capital affects farm household earnings using two tools to refine measurement of human capital effects. First, it employs a two‐sector model to allow the allocation of family labor between farm and nonfarm activities. Second, it accounts for village fixed effects to evaluate whether results from panel data differ meaningfully from a cross‐sectional data analysis with local binary variables. The results show that education has a negligible effect on farm earnings; instead, experience appears to be the principal channel by which human capital affects agricultural performance in a traditional rural setting. Our results also suggest that prior models that fail to separate nonfarm activities spuriously exaggerated the effect of education to the farm sector. In addition, typical cross‐sectional analyses that ignore fixed effects may cause the effects of education on rural household earnings to be significantly overstated. The fact that panel data regressions accounting for village‐level fixed effects found only one instance of education raising earnings—the effect of literacy on nonfarm income—suggests that considerable heterogeneity may have been ignored in cross‐sectional data analyses, especially ones that omitted village‐level effects.     

农业适度规模经营及其效益实证研究——以四川省为例

[目的]文章利用生产函数法分析农业适度规模经营影响因素,依据"成本-效益"理论建模,试图为掌握农业发展规律提供参考依据。[方法]以四川省为实证,收集2006~2015年四川省农村居民农业生产基本情况和数据形式,其中数据形式主要包含土地资本、流动资本、固定资本以及劳动资本的投入等,采用软件SPSS分析人均耕地规模指数,并根据数据分析农业规模经营适度范围,寻求四川省农村居民的最佳经营规模点Q及农业适度规模经营区间[Q_1,Q_2]。[结果]分析得出四川省农村居民人均耕地适度经营范围为:0.227 456~0.412 534 hm~2。[结论]农业适度规模经营受多方面因素的影响,通常与土地产出弹性和劳动力工资成正比,与劳动力产出弹性及地租成反比;规模经营效益在发展农业适度规模经营过程中应注重各个方面效益的同时提高,既要追求经济效益,也要注重社会效益和生态效益,以确保整体效益的最大化。     

Poverty decline, agricultural wages, and nonfarm employment in rural India: 1983–2004

We analyze five rounds of National Sample Survey data covering 1983, 1987/1988, 1993/1994, 1999/2000, and 2004/2005 to explore the relationship between rural diversification and poverty. Poverty in rural India has declined at a modest rate during this time period. We provide region-level estimates that illustrate considerable geographic heterogeneity in this progress. Poverty estimates correlate well with region-level NSS data on changes in agricultural wage rates. Agricultural labor remains the preserve of the uneducated and also to a large extent of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. We show that while agricultural labor grew as a share of total economic activity over the first four rounds, it had fallen back to the levels observed at the beginning of our survey period by 2004. This all-India trajectory also masks widely varying trends across states. During this period, the rural nonfarm sector has grown modestly, mainly between the last two survey rounds. Regular nonfarm employment remains largely associated with education levels and social status that are rare among the poor. However, casual labor and self-employment in the nonfarm sector reveals greater involvement by disadvantaged groups in 2004 than in the preceding rounds. The implication of this for poverty is not immediately clear—the poor may be pushed into low-return casual nonfarm activities due to lack of opportunities in the agricultural sector rather than being pulled by high returns offered by the nonfarm sector. Econometric estimates reveal that expansion of the nonfarm sector is associated with falling poverty via two routes: a direct impact on poverty that is likely due to a pro-poor marginal incidence of nonfarm employment expansion; and an indirect impact attributable to the positive effect of nonfarm employment growth on agricultural wages. The analysis also confirms the important contribution to rural poverty reduction from agricultural productivity, availability of land, and consumption levels in proximate urban areas.     

农户生计资本对新型农业社会化服务采纳行为影响研究

目的 文章旨在探讨农户生计资本对新型农业社会化服务采纳行为的影响,从产业链全过程视角下推动农户新型农业社会化服务采纳行为。方法 基于可持续生计分析框架,利用江西省569个农户实地调查微观数据,构建二元Logitics模型实证生计资本对农户新型农业社会化服务采纳行为作用关系。结果 （1）受教育水平、农业劳动力数量、耕地面积、家庭年收入、是否加入合作社、是否担任村干部、获取农业信息渠道数量对产前环节新型农业社会化服务采纳行为具有正向显著影响;（2）农业劳动力数量、耕地面积、家庭年收入、获取农业信息渠道数量对产中环节新型农业社会化服务采纳行为具有正向显著影响;（3）受教育水平、耕地面积、家庭年收入、是否加入合作社、是否担任村干部、获取农业信息渠道数量对产后环节新型农业社会化服务采纳行为具有正向显著影响;（4）耕地块数对新型农业社会化服务全过程采纳行为具有负向显著影响;（5）距离县城公里数、村庄地形、经营方式对农户生产全过程新型农业社会化服务采纳行为均有正向显著影响。结论 据此提出提供再教育培训,引导劳动力回流;推进“小田并大田”与“宜机化”改造;拓宽农户收入渠道,稳步提升家庭收入;创新农民组织功能,拓宽农业信息渠道;优化服务主体布局,发展多种经营模式的对策启示。     

非农就业对农户农地价值预期的影响研究——来自CHFS的实证分析

目的 在我国农村人口非农就业转移进程不断加深背景下,非农就业活动改变了农户家庭与农地之间的依附关系,研究非农就业活动对农户农地价值预期的影响,既有助于理解农地价值形成机理,又对推进我国农业农村现代化具有重要意义。方法 文章基于2015年中国家庭金融调查（CHFS）农户层面的微观数据,以耕地作为农地的代表,采用OLS回归模型和中介效应模型实证分析非农就业对农户农地价值预期的影响。结果 非农就业并未降低农户对农地的依赖、减少耕地要素投入,相反非农就业增强了土地替代要素的投入、激发了农户农转非的资本积累需求,从而导致农户提高了农地的价值预期。结论 （1）我国农户的非农就业转移并未完成,亟需创新和完善农村土地流转机制;（2）农地依旧是农户生存的重要保证,需积极支撑或培育专业化农业生产性服务业和智能化农业机械制造业的发展,弥补农业劳动力非农转移带来的负面效应,加快推进我国农业农村现代化。     

农村劳动力转移对河南省农业产业结构发展的影响研究

[目的]通过分析河南省农村劳动力转移对农业产业结构发展的影响,为促进河南省农村劳动力的合理转移和农业产业结构的协调发展提供参考。[方法]文章采用统计数据分析法和文献分析法。搜集分析河南省农村劳动力转移相关的数据和河南省与农业产业结构的数据,探究农村劳动力转移与农业产业结构之间的关系,最终详细说明河南省劳动力转移对河南省农业产业结构发展产生的具体影响。[结果]2006~2013年,河南省劳动力转移的年增长速率6.93%,在此影响下农民收入年增长率达19.98%;农作物总产量年增长率达26.69%;粮食作物和油料作物种植面积年增长率达4.76%和4.11%;棉花种植面积年减少速率达80.18%;农业播种面积年增长速率3.42‰;此外,农用机械使用率和农村人力思想素质均提升。[结论]河南省农村劳动力转移对河南省农业产业结构带来了深远的影响,农村劳动力的转移致使农民收入和农业种植效益提升、农业机械化水平增高、农业种植结构趋于单一化、农业经营规模扩大及农村人力资本趋优。     

发展中国家农村剩余劳动力就业问题研究

二元经济结构是发展中国家的基本特征。二元经济结构的存在意味着发达的工业部门与传统落后的农业部门同时并存,也意味着在农村地区将长期存在一定的剩余劳动力需要向现代工业部门转移。在利用刘易斯劳动力流动模式的基础上,结合发展中国家的技术战略,提出了发展中国家应采取结合实际引进适用技术和国外资金,增加人力资本投资,促进农业产业化等措施,最终解决农业剩余劳动力的就业问题。     

The Evolving Structure of Chinese R&D Funding and its Implications for the Productivity of Agricultural Biotechnology Research

China’s research and development (R&D) policy has changed considerably over recent decades, and great changes occurred in 2006 when the main programme objective of China’s R&D changed from the 863 Programme and 973 Programme to the National Science and Technology Major Project. One topic that has drawn extensive attention is whether the investment reform improved R&D productivity in China. Using a unique panel dataset from 160 universities, this paper examines the effect of the investment reform on productivity improvement in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We use a panel count data model with a dynamic feedback mechanism to model the knowledge production process. Strong evidence indicates that the investment reform greatly contributes to knowledge output production in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We also find that the input quality is more important than the absolute quantity; human research capacity exhibits the greatest contribution to the output of patents; past knowledge accumulation helps produce more patents; and entry barriers to patent production exist in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. Moreover, the patent explosion in China may have been largely caused by improvements in the human capital input quality.     

Does migration raise agricultural investment? An empirical analysis for rural Mexico

The effect of remittances on capital accumulation remains a contested topic. This article uses a panel data set from rural Mexico to investigate the impact of remittances on agriculture and livestock investments. After controlling for the endogeneity of migration through an instrumental variable estimation our empirical results show that international migration has a significantly positive effect on the accumulated agricultural assets but not on livestock capital. This suggests that households use the capital obtained from international migration only to overcome liquidity constraints for subsistence production whereas migration itself seems to be the superior investment option compared to other productive activities such as livestock husbandry.     

新型合作农场：经济发达地区农地规模经营的逻辑与实践

目的 当前,“谁来种地”成为农业发展面临的重要问题。近年来部分经济发达地区出现的、由村级集体经济组织主导的新型合作农场成为创新农业经营组织形式、发展农地规模经营的新探索,对其实践与逻辑进行探讨有一定的必要性和现实意义。方法 文章运用案例分析法,以海门新型合作农场为例,从新制度经济学视角对新型合作农场的农业经营体制创新特征进行分析,并与其他新型农业经营主体进行对比,指出新型合作农场在联农带农、壮大村集体经济方面的优势。结果 新型合作农场将村集体经济组织实体化为农地经营主体,整合土地、劳动力、资本、技术等资源要素,并将现代经营管理制度引入农业生产,在土地规模经营的同时有效实现了产权明晰、交易成本降低、风险分担和外部性内部化,有效促进了农民和村集体的双增收,实现了农业生产的帕累托改进。结论 新型合作农场充分做实了村集体“统”的功能,其合作化、一体化、企业化的经营模式可以为我国其他地区农地适度规模经营提供一种思路和参照。     

农村空心化背景下的农业雇工现状与特征简析

农村大量青壮劳动力进入城市逐步形成空心化,与农忙时节的农村劳动力供给不足形成鲜明矛盾。文章在对广东省阳东县大沟镇、河南省原阳县葛埠口乡葛庄村以及四川省西充县黄竹坝村等地进行实地调研的基础上,结合2014年4月社会资源研究所发布的关于中国农业雇工现状的报告,从对农村空心化背景下的农业雇工现状的研究中发现我国广大农村地区存在雇工难、雇工费用上涨等现象,接着对这种现象的成因进行分析农业规模化和产业化对劳动力需求增加、失地农民数量增加及农民观念的转变,并通过文献研究与个案分析相结合的方法,揭示了空心化背景下农业雇工的特征即:农村空心化使农业雇工具有技能水平低、年龄性别失衡、易季节性失业、权益难以保障、工作成本高等特征,最后从加强业务培训、细化生产环节、加强社会保障3个方面提出建议以保障空心化背景下农业雇工的健康发展。     

新疆农业资金投入与农民收入效应关系的实证研究

[目的]为清晰识别农业资金投入对新疆农民收入的影响程度,并给予地方政府进一步优化调整农业资金使用效能提供参考依据。[方法]文章选取1978~2013年新疆统计数据,采用协整分析、误差修正模型等方法对财政支农、农业贷款、农民自主投资与新疆农民人均纯收入进行了实证探究。[结果]新疆地区财政支农、农业信贷、农民自主投资与农民人均纯收入之间存在长期均衡关系;而短期内财政支农、农业信贷以及农户自主投资的促进效应不如长期明显,其中农业贷款的收入效应远低于财政支农和农民自主投资;财政支农、农民自主投资与农民人均纯收入在短期内具有格兰杰因果关系,长期则格兰杰因果关系解释力逐渐减弱,而农业贷款在短期内不是新疆农民人均纯收入增长的格兰杰原因,长期则互为格兰杰因果关系。[结论]该文提出加大财政支农投入力度,提高财政资金配置效率;推动农村金融改革,提高农村金融效率;提振农民自主积累资金投资的积极性等政策含义,以期为新疆"三农问题"有效解决提供坚实可靠的资本基础。