Marketing China's milk: A case study of the sales activity of dairy farmers in greater Beijing

Small farmer participation in marketing chains in emerging commodity markets and the determinants of their marketing channel choices are the center of many recent empirical and theoretical papers in the literature. The dairy sector is emerging in China. There are many fundamental questions about how farmers make dairy marketing decisions in China at the farm gate level that are unanswered. This makes the dairy sector in China a good place to study farmers in emerging marketing chains. Based on three sets of unique data collected in the mid-2000s in Greater Beijing, the analyses show that small farmers were the major producers of milk. There is no evidence that small farmers are being excluded from emerging marketing channels. One of the differences of China's dairy sector in the mid-2000s is that its marketing chain itself had many different types of agents that procure milk — and few of them were large; most were individual entrepreneurs. The high level of the competiveness may be the reason that individual agents do not have monopoly power and why small farmers can operate in the system.     

The Social Welfare Impact of Indonesian Dairy Policies

The Indonesian dairy sector remains highly regulated, in spite of trade and investment policy reforms elsewhere in the economy. The regulations, aimed mainly at fostering development of local industry, include an import ratio requirement (BUSEP), import tariffs; an import licensing scheme, and restrictions on investment in milk processing The paper shows that the current policy mix has resulted in a significant increase in numbers of dairy cattle and dairy farmers, and in fresh milk and end-product output. However, this policy mix imposes costs. The analysis indicates that the economy, and in particular domestic consumers, would gain if dairy trade and investment restrictions were lessened. The gradual movement towards a more deregulated dairy sector is a necessary condition for improved efficiency and a strengthening of Indonesia's competitive position in the world dairy market.     

What are the Determinants of Large‐scale Farming in China?

The Chinese Government has increased its focus on expanding farm scale to promote agricultural development since 2010. A series of favorable polices has been adopted to support large‐scale farming. Using a multivariate probit model and 2015 and 2016 rural household survey data, the present paper examines the factors that influence small farmers' decision to become large‐scale farmers. The empirical regression results suggest that the decision to become a large‐scale farmer is significantly influenced by household human capital, cooperative membership, marketing channels, land‐transfer contracts and government policies. However, the influence of these factors differs with respect to becoming large‐scale grain and non‐grain farmers. These results imply that policy tools should target these factors and the appropriate group of small‐scale farmers. Generally, both central and local governments should promote large‐scale farming by enhancing rural households' human capital, improving marketing channels and providing agricultural social services, as well as encouraging returning migrant workers to engage in large‐scale farming.     

Red Holocaust

ABSTRACT

Reduced transport costs and income growth in industrialising European countries changed the market conditions for European farmers in the late nineteenth century. Grain prices fell while dairy prices rose. It has been claimed that these price changes hit large grain farmers with vested interests in grain trade particularly hard, while owner-occupiers and smallholders fared better and with help of developing cooperative associations, came out as successful commercial agriculturalists by switching to intensive branches, foremost dairying. Recent research on the Danish case, shows, however, that change was initiated on large elite estates with long-term dairy traditions. The literature on the Swedish case indicates, that larger farms switched to intensified fodder production quicker than smaller farms did, while in the early twentieth century smaller farms played an un-proportionally large role on the dairy market. Using individual farm data from two East-central Swedish parishes in 1878/80, 1895/96 and 1910/11, it is shown, that larger farms tended to modernise crop rotations and switch towards dairy production earlier than small farms did. Smaller farms caught up, and by 1910 their land use was about as strongly adapted to commercial dairy production as larger farms’ land use was.     

Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency among Coffee Farmers in Côte d’Ivoire: Evidence from the Centre West Region

This paper presents measures of technical efficiency for a sample of 81 peasant farmers in the low‐income region of Côte d’Ivoire. DEA techniques were used to compute farm‐level technical efficiency (TE) measures. The analysis reveals average levels of technical efficiency equal to 36 per cent and 47 per cent respectively for the CCR ( Charnes et al., 1978 ) and BCC ( Banker et al., 1984 ) models. These results suggest that substantial gains in output and/or decreases in cost can be attained given existing technology. In a second step analysis, two‐limit Tobit regression techniques were used to examine the relationship between TE and various farm/farmer characteristics. From a policy point of view, an important conclusion stemming from the analysis of our sample is that family size, membership to farmer's club or association and the origin of the farmer are the variables found to be most promising for action. The analysis suggests that policymakers should foster the development of the formal farmers’ club or association by building the capacity of the farmers. Our analysis also supports the argument for public sector involvement in the provision of information on labour force management to peasant farmers as a means to improve efficiency levels, and thus household incomes.     

农民收入与文化消费牵扯:江苏364个样本

利用江苏364份农民文化消费微观调查数据,实证分析农民收入对文化消费支出的影响。研究结果表明:农民消费类文化活动和免费文化活动并举,共同构成农民文化生活的重要组成部分。农民收入水平是影响农民文化消费的重要因素,家庭人均收入和农民对家庭收入自我评价对农民文化消费有显著正影响,农业收入比重对农民文化消费有显著负影响;收入变量对高收入组农民文化消费影响程度要明显高于中收入组,对低收入组农民文化消费没有显著影响,说明农民文化消费具有一定的收入门槛。     

China and the World Trade Organization

For nine long years China made determined but unsuccessful efforts to rejoin GATT, having gone through 21 rounds of protracted negotiations. China failed to become a founding member of WTO when it superseded GATT in January 1995. In 1989 GATT was about to work out the final terms of protocol for China's entry as a reforming socialist economy. But the Tiananmen event made the developed country members, led by the US, politicize the issue of China's membership. They also wanted to prise open the vast China market as a condition for China's entry; i.e. China to be admitted as a developed economy. China for its part regarded the price of its WTO membership as too exorbitant without being allowed a reasonable timetable for adjustment. Minister Wu Yi considered the US demands ‘absolutely unacceptable’. Hence the impasse over China's WTO membership continued. Apart from the imperative of trade diplomacy, however, the perceived benefits of WTO membership to China are difficult to capture. They are mainly general and long-term in nature, e.g. facilitating China's further economic reform and integrating China into the global economy. However, the costs and risks to China could be considerable, much depending on the exact protocol terms of China's membership. In general many state-owned enterprises and township-village enterprises would suffer from stiffer foreign competition. The effect of WTO on Chinese agriculture would be minimal, while the impact on the manufacturing sector could be quite disruptive. The service sector could fare even worse if no protective measures were to be taken. That explains why China needs to insist on developing-country terms of entry. Without doubt, China will eventually accede to WTO. It is a gross anomaly for this global multilateral trade body to continue excluding China, the world's 11th largest trading nation, on which also hinge the two other great trading entities of Hong Kong and Taiwan. There is increasing awareness of this point in the EU; and it will sooner or later also prevail in Washington.     

以农业合作经济组织促进农业经济发展

文章认为,农业经济组织对农村经济发展、农民收入及提高农业生产管理水平等有着很大的促进作用。在我国的农业发展实践中,农业合作经济组织的发展还较为滞后,存在着行为不规范、传统意识影响严重和政府支持不够等问题。随着农业产业化成为我国农村经济发展的必然趋势,一家一户的传统农业生产方式将越来越不适应我国的经济发展,广泛实行农业合作经济组织将是我国农业生产的必经之路。     

Irrigation development and its socioeconomic impact on rural communities in Malawi

The ‘green revolution’ of the 1950s advocated irrigation schemes as one way of achieving food security globally. Evidence from the Likangala and Domasi irrigation schemes in Malawi suggests, however, that irrigation schemes that were developed after the pattern of the ‘green revolution’ had adverse effects on the socioeconomic status of Malawi's rural communities, disrupting local economies, exposing local farmers to water related diseases, and relocating communities away from their ancestral land without due compensation. The production of rice, expansion of rural sources of income, and growth of towns associated with irrigation schemes were limited in quality and quantity and benefited only a few privileged farmers on the schemes. This paper strongly recommends the recognition of local structures and systems, and minimal dependency on donor support, if irrigation farming is to improve the welfare of rural communities in Malawi.     

农业虚拟组织促进农民增收的机理分析

农业发展新阶段,农民增收越来越困难。是什么原因造成农民收入增长如此乏力呢?学者们从多角度探讨农民增收问题。笔者认为,对比国内外农业发展情况和经验,可以说制约中国农民收入增长的关键因素之一是缺乏组织平台,这个组织平台既是农民的协作组织纽带、利益代表,又是“绿箱”政策实施的载体。这就要求对目前的组织进行形态与功能的创新。本文在把虚拟组织引入农业领域的思想的基础上,重点探讨虚拟组织促进农民增收的机理,然后提出建立农业虚拟组织、增加农民收入的对策。     

Are China's Farms Growing?

China's agricultural sector faces challenges because most farms are still small scale. China's policy is to encourage the consolidation of farms and promote farms that are larger in scale. A question that arises is: Are China's farms growing? The goal of the present paper is to determine whether large farms in China have emerged or if farms remain small. To meet this goal, we systematically document the trends in the operational sizes of China's farms and measure the determinants of changes in farm size. Using a nationally representative dataset, the study shows that in 2013 China's farming sector was still mostly characterized by small‐scale farms. However, at the same time, there is an emerging class of middle‐sized and larger‐sized farms. Most large farms are being run by households but there is a set of large farms that are company/cooperative‐run. Today, farmers on larger farms are younger and better educated than the average farmer.     

The rise of the service sector in China

This paper analyzes the underlying mechanisms that explain the rise of the service sector in China. Along with China’s unprecedented growth, the rapid expansion of its service sector is one of the fastest among emerging countries. However, the literature has yet to offer a clear understanding of such expansion. We show that distribution services first grow with the manufacturing sector, followed by personal services as per capita income rises. Motivated by this growth pattern, this paper provides a theory that describes 1) the complementarity between distribution services and the manufacturing sector, and 2) the substitution between personal services and home production. Empirics show that the personal service sector is the key to account for the early and rapid rise of the service sector in China. Quantitatively, high productivity growth and high capital intensity in the personal service sector, and labor market frictions are the most important channels. By revealing the growth pattern of the service sector in the early stages of development, the paper thereby contributes to the growing literature on the rising importance of the service economy.     

农民专业合作社对农户生产效益的影响——基于湖南葡萄种植行业的调研分析

以湖南长沙、岳阳、娄底、怀化、常德70家葡萄园农户的生产资料作为研究样本,对农民专业合作社与农户生产效益的关系进行研究,结果显示：农民专业合作社社员与非社员农户之间存在生产效益的差异,非社员在葡萄销售价格、每亩资金成本、每亩收入、每亩净收入这四个生产效益指标上都低于社员,体现出加入专业合作社的优越性。为鼓励更多农户入社,建议增加农民专业合作社示范点,并且增加对农民专业合作社特色农产品的扶持,使农业增产、农民增收,推动我国农业现代化进程。     

河南农村居民财产（不动产）性收入的问题与思考

不动产收入是居民财产性收入的重要组成部分,它的提高对增加农民收入水平、缩小城乡差距、加快中原经济区建设起到积极的作用。鉴于此,本文通过分析河南农村居民在获得财产性收入的现状及存在的问题,提出了增加农民财产性(不动产)收入的对策建议。     

Determinants and Effects of Small Chilli Farmers’ Participation in Supermarket Channels in Indonesia

The number of supermarkets in Indonesia is increasing, but small-scale farmers may be at risk of being excluded from these emerging marketing channels. Drawing on data from our survey of 600 small-scale chilli farmers in West Java, we examine the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to participate in supermarket channels. We use a treatment-effect model to examine the effect of supermarket participation on income, while controlling for the possibility of selectivity bias. Our results indicate that participation in the supermarket channel significantly increases farm income, even after we controlled for differences in education, chilli-farming experience, storage-house ownership, and the distance from the farmer's house to a bitumen road.     

人民币实际汇率波动对中欧进出口贸易影响的实证研究

本文通过建立GARCH模型量度了人民币对欧元实际汇率的波动性,并运用协整检验模型、误差修正模型、脉冲响应函数和方差分解技术就人民币实际汇率变动对中国与欧元区之间进出口贸易的影响进行分析。分析结果表明,中国对欧元区出口在长期内随汇率波动而增加,而进口却随汇率波动而减少;在短期内汇率波动推动中国进口,抑制中国出口。人民币升值在长期内给双边出口均造成伤害,但对中国出口伤害更大;在短期内人民币贬值将对中国进出口均有推动作用。本文分析还表明,在长期内,中国对欧元区出口收入效应远远大于欧元区对华出口收入效应;在短期内,中国实际收入变动对欧元区出口表现负向冲击,而欧元区实际收入变动对中国出口表现为正向冲击。中国汇率制度改革对中国出口欧元区产生推动作用,对欧元区出口产生抑制作用,且前者大于后者。实际汇率水平及其波动性变化对欧元区对华出口变动的解释力高于中国实际收入水平变化的解释力,而对于中国对欧元区出口的变动,欧元区实际收入水平变动的解释力高于实际汇率水平及其波动性变化的解释力。     

广东省城镇化发展、工业化发展与农民收入增长的协整分析

本文运用协整检验、误差修正模型等计量经济方法,对广东省1978～2007年间的城镇化发展、工业化发展、农民收入的长期均衡关系和短期波动关系作实证研究。实证结果表明,广东省农民收入和城镇化发展、工业化发展之间存在着长期的均衡关系;城镇化发展和工业化发展是提高广东省农民收入的重要途径。     

Cooperative patronage: The National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi in Kasungu District

This paper estimates the determinants of farmers' decisions to join a rural producer organisation, the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM), in Kasungu District. Data for the study were collected in June and August 2003 using household-level questionnaires and stratified random sampling, where strata were membership status and gender. Probit analysis of 250 farmers shows that off-farm sources of income, distance of the farmer's household from Kasungu District centre, age of the farmer, tobacco farming, education, household level land holding and gender determined the decision to join NASFAM. These results suggest that farmers should be informed of the potential benefits of participating in rural development efforts, and that rural communication and information infrastructure should be improved so as to reduce the costs of information access and transactions in general, if participation in organisations such as NASFAM is to be enhanced.     

农业产业化深度发展过程中的组织协调研究——以广东省为例

文章分析了改革开放以来广东农业产业化历史进程、主要组织模式及其演变逻辑,阐述了产业化深化过程中不同行为主体之间利益冲突及其根源。在此基础上,尝试构建农户、龙头企业、政府和农业合作组织“四体联运”的理论框架模型,确保协调机制有效运行,促进农业发展和农民增收。     

ICT and economic development: comparing ASEAN member states

The impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on economic performance has been an interesting issue in economics. There are at least three key points that can be learnt from the previous literatures regarding ICT and country’s economic performance. First, more developed countries are expected to benefit greater than less developed countries. Second, the impact of ICT will depend on the intensity of ICT utilization. Third, the size and structure of ICT sector of country’s economy does matter. The main contribution of this paper is to evaluate those three points by conducting comparative analysis based on Input–output (I-O) Table from four ASEAN Member States, namely Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. ASEAN is used because it is one of the regional associations that have a large income gap among its members. The results suggest that more developed countries (which are measured by income per capita) do not always benefit greater than less developed countries from ICT development. The magnitude of ICT impact on the economy depends on the intensity of ICT utilization and the structure of ICT sector.