Household size and residential water demand: an empirical approach*

The effectiveness of pricing policies depends on the price elasticity of consumption. It is well documented that residential demand for water is influenced by heterogeneity associated with differences in the size of the household and socioeconomic characteristics. In this paper, we focus on household size. Our initial hypothesis is that users’ sensitivity to changes in price is different depending on the number of household members. To this end, we carry out an empirical estimation of urban water demand in Zaragoza (Spain) distinguishing between households with different sizes using data at the individual level. As far as we are aware, this approach to urban residential water demand is new in the literature. The analysis suggests that all households are sensitive to prices regardless of size. A more relevant finding is that small households are more sensitive to price changes.     

Microeconometric analysis of wine grape supply contracts in Australia*

This paper examines wine grape supply contracts used in the main grape growing regions of Australia. An empirical analysis provides insight into specific aspects of contract design and implementation. Statistical analyses of sample data reveal differences between regions in contract specifications. Lower quality grape growing regions place a greater reliance on grape quality assessment to determine bonus/penalty payments compared to higher quality regions. Contracts in higher quality regions place greater emphasis on explicit winery involvement and direction in vineyard management. Results indicate that longer duration contracts are more inclusive in terms of the number of clauses included. Evidence of risk shifting (i.e., winery to grower) for high quality grapes is reported, where the price received by growers is determined by the bottle price of the wine produced.     

At‐home meat consumption in China: an empirical study*

The remarkable economic changes occurring within China since 1978 have resulted in a striking alteration in food consumption patterns, and one marked change is the increasing consumption of meat. Given China’s large population, a small percentage change in per capita meat consumption could lead to a dramatic impact on the production and trade of agricultural products. Such changes have major implications for policy makers and food marketers. This paper concentrates on meat consumption patterns in the home in China. A censored linear approximate almost ideal demand system model was employed in the study, and major economic parameters were estimated for different meat items. Data used in this study were collected from two separate consumer surveys – one urban and one rural in 2005.     

Drinking cheaply: the demand for basic wine in Italy

The wine market has evolved dramatically over the last three decades. The premium wine segment has expanded significantly to the detriment of basic wines. Nevertheless, in traditional wine producing and consuming countries, inexpensive wines still account for a large market share, both in volume and value. Marketing strategies for such wines are changing in an attempt to tap this increasingly crowded market segment. Despite its importance, the basic wine segment has not been studied in‐depth and is often assumed to have no product differentiation. This paper tried to ascertain the existence of a possible degree of heterogeneity within nonpremium wines and to measure, by means of elasticity computation, the relationships among categories of wines aggregated with criteria that go beyond price. A demand system (censored QUAIDS) was estimated, using a statistically representative panel of 6,773 Italian households, to see to what extent, if any, substitution occurs in home consumption of basic wines, which is the main channel of distribution of inexpensive wines in Italy. Although price is an important lever in supply policies, our results also suggest the importance of packaging, such as carton as an alternative to glass.     

Demand for fish in Asia: a cross‐country analysis*

Fish demand patterns in nine Asian countries were investigated using a multistage budgeting framework allowing a disaggregated approach to analysing fish consumption. This paper highlights the heterogeneity of fisheries products in terms of species, sources and cultural responses of consumers, factors that are important in fish demand under the Asian setting. Specifically, fish demand by income groups were compared to determine how the low‐ and high‐income households respond to price and income changes. Results showed that the estimated price and income elasticities of all fish types included in the study were relatively more elastic among the poorer households.     

中国水产品对日本出口变动因素分析

论文利用日本财务省贸易统计提供的1990～2009年日本水产品贸易数据,在总结中国水产品对日本出口贸易特点的基础上,利用恒定市场模型,分析了中国对日本水产品出口贸易的变动情况。研究结果表明,需求效应和竞争力效应是影响中国水产品对日出口额变动的主要因素,近年来中国水产品对日本出口额急剧缩减主要是由于日本水产品进口市场需求萎缩和中国水产品竞争力下降造成的。在此基础上,根据实证分析结果,论文提出了扩大中国水产品对日本出口的建议。     

Nontariff measures and product differentiation: Hormone-treated beef trade from the United States and Canada to the European Union

We investigate how a combination of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measure and product differentiation affects beef trade and the consequences for the United States (US)–European Union (EU) hormone-treated beef trade dispute. We develop a partial equilibrium model to represent the global beef markets and product differentiation between non-hormone-treated beef, hormone-treated beef, and other beef. The results show that removing the SPS measure increases EU hormone-treated beef imports from the US and Canada and decrease beef consumption. In addition, EU hormone-treated beef consumption and imports can be related to a few key indicators of product differentiation. The framework we develop can estimate EU hormone-treated beef consumption and imports based on a minimum of parameters relating to product differentiation, thereby providing useful applied economic analysis of a key trade measure.     

International market integration and demand: An analysis of the Norwegian and Danish herring market

This article provides a method where pre-tests for international market integration are used to identify market structures before estimating demand systems. The method is applied to the analysis of the European herring market. A Vector Auto Regressive model in Error Correction form is used to identify co-integration vectors between price series and, based on this, to test for the Law of One Price. The Law of One Price is in force between the landing markets for herring in the two largest global supplier countries, Norway and Denmark. Therefore, an inverse demand function is estimated for the combined Norwegian and Danish market. The results are used in the interpretation of the significant increase in the prices of herring on the Danish ex-vessel market in 2001, given the stability of the Danish market. The implication is that even though Denmark did not export to the main Norwegian export markets in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the Danish landing price is influenced by the situation there.     

Two Nested Constant-Elasticity-of-Substitution Models of Recreational Participation and Site Choice: An "Alternatives" Model and an "Expenditures" Model

Two demand models of recreational participation and site choice are developed: an alternatives model and an expenditures model. Both assume maximization of utility over the year, so allow for diminishing marginal utility. They do not impose the restrictive assumption that where one goes on a trip is independent of where one plans to go on other occasions. Estimation is with a nested constant-elasticity-of-substitution preference ordering: it is relatively easy to estimate because of global regularity, it allows sites to be complements, and it has the potential to be locally flexible. The application is to Atlantic salmon fishing.     

The impacts of cross-border tourists on local retail property market: an empirical analysis of Hong Kong

Hong Kong as a small city has witnessed a drastic change in the number of short-stay and same-day tourists from Mainland China ever since the relaxation of the tourism policy began in the early 2000’s. This study examines the impacts on the prices of retail space attributed to the substantial increase of cross-border shoppers. Based on a comprehensive retail property transaction records in Hong Kong and a semi-log regression model, our study confirms a positive impact of the number of cross-border shoppers on retail property prices, especially on the value of newer and larger-sized street-level retail shops. Moreover, we find that the effects brought on the retail property market are city-wide and not limited to specific districts which are relatively closer to the border with Shenzhen and with a higher degree of accessibility by these cross-border shoppers. This paper is limited by a number of assumptions including travel distance of the shoppers from Shenzhen. Nevertheless, with an increase in personal travels by the affluent Mainland Chinese citizens who usually spend a lot on shopping outside China, future studies can be made in other North American or European cities for comparison.     

In Vino ‘No’ Veritas: impacts of fraud on wine imports in China

China is one of the largest wine importing countries in the world and is poised for continued import growth in the future. Increased wine purchases throughout China have given rise to persistent fraud where fake wines are packaged and sold with counterfeit contents and labels. For exporting countries like France, counterfeit wines displace market share, damage foreign brand reputation, and cause distrust in consumers who are aware of counterfeiting problems throughout the country. We examine the impact of fraudulent wine events (as measured by negative media reports) on Chinese wine demand differentiated by supplying country. We employ the Rotterdam demand system and a switching regression procedure to estimate import demand and compare results across different media variable specifications. Results consistently show that negative reports disproportionately affect French wine regardless of how the media variable is specified. This is not surprising because most fraudulent events involve French wine counterfeits.     

Qualifying tradition: Instituted practices in the making of the organic wine market in Languedoc‐Roussillon,France

Within France, the Languedoc‐Roussillon region (now part of Occitanie) is home to about one third of the nation's area of certified organic vineyards. Each year, the world's largest organic wine fair, Millésime Bio, takes place in the city of Montpellier. This trade fair is an important site where organic wine is not only sold but also given meaning in the market, and importantly, differentiated from but made commensurate with conventional wine. In this paper, we examine processes and practices of ‘qualifying’ organic wine, including by means of relational processes of association and dissociation. Drawing on collaborative event ethnography and other qualitative methods, we focus on individual and institutional actors engaged in creating forms of commodified meanings that circulate with organic wine. In Languedoc‐Roussillon, these meanings reflect and reinforce a longer‐term so‐called shift to quality in wine production, yet also emphasize continuity over change, particularly through emphasis on ongoing role of artisanal, independent growers. We argue that qualification thereby works not only through association with independent growers but also by dissociation, specifically from Languedoc‐Roussillon's agrarian tradition of generic wine production and from the central role played by wine cooperatives in the social reproduction of the region's small‐holding grower class.     

Pricing to market behaviour of India's high value agri‐food exporters: an empirical analysis of major destination markets

The pricing behaviour of India's high value agricultural and food exporters in their major destination markets is examined using a pricing‐to‐market (PTM) model for noncompetitive and exchange rate related pricing behaviour. The analysis was undertaken in a context where India is showing high commodity concentration in agricultural trade. The econometric analysis employed is panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) estimation technique. The results indicated evidence of a greater degree of imperfect competition either through price discrimination across destinations or through imperfect exchange rate pass‐through. The analysis of exchange rate effects showed that the local currency price stabilization by the Indian exporters were more prominent than the amplification of exchange rates. The analysis of the asymmetric effects of exchange rates on export prices showed that in most cases the depreciation of Indian rupee had a greater impact than the appreciation. Moreover the results showed that the exchange rate pass‐through is sensitive to the kind of exchange rate index utilised. In our analysis we found that the commodity specific exchange rate better predicts the pricing to market behaviour in most cases.     

Demand Estimation in the Presence of Stochastic Trend and Seasonality: The Case of Meat Demand in the United Kingdom

If budget shares have stochastic trend or seasonality or both, then demand equations based on the assumption of deterministic trend and deterministic seasonality will be mis-specified. We test this proposition by estimating a Linearized Almost Ideal (LAI) demand system for meat demand in the United Kingdom using Harvey's structural time series methodology. We demonstrate that the model specification allowing for stochastic trend and deterministic seasonality performs best in terms of diagnostic tests and goodness of fit measures. It is also shown that the model with stochastic trend is better at out-of-sample forecasting.     

Determinants, differentiation, and development of short-term marginal costs in dairy production: an empirical analysis for selected regions of the EU

This work provides evidence on the determinants, cost differentiation, and development of short‐term marginal costs of dairy farms in important production regions of the European Union. The empirical study is based on the estimation of multi‐input multi‐output Symmetric Generalized McFadden cost functions using an unbalanced panel data set of the European Farm Accountancy Data Network. The results show considerable regional differences in the impact of the outputs, input prices, and fixed factors on marginal costs. Strong evidence can be found that marginal costs decrease over time and is further underlined by the development of derived regional aggregated short‐term supply curves. Marginal cost elasticities and correlation coefficients validate the hypotheses that a high degree of farm specialization, large milk output, and low milk prices are associated with lower marginal costs. Furthermore, the marginal cost spread in the data sample is analyzed. We show that milk output, milk yield, herd size, labor input, and fodder production can be attributed to significant marginal cost differentiation of farms, whereas for crop and animal output, grassland, stock of other animals, and depreciation only minor differentiation can be found.     

2013年地质调查工作供需分析与展望

新时期基础地质调查需求深度和广度增加,服务生态文明、惠及民生方面的需求与日俱增,地质科技需求层次不断提升,地质调查需求区域差异凸显。地质调查资金投入总量稳步增长,投入结构进一步优化;地质调查人员投入方面,2006-2012年从事地质调查的人数在增加,直接投入项目的人员数和直接投入低地调技术的人员数占总人数的比例有下降趋势。未来一个时期,地质调查工作将面临深化改革,适时调整;面对强劲需求,地质调查经费应保持稳定;随着领域拓展,地质调查服务民生作用将凸显;地质调查项目分类管理机制亟需建立。     

东北三省煤炭资源供需形势分析

国家“十一五”规划纲要对东北地区工业的发展提出了新的要求,但是近年来东北三省的煤炭资源供给小于需求,并且缺口不断加大,按照东北三省“十一五”规划纲要的目标要求,采用万元GDP能耗法预测“十一五”期间东北三省的煤炭资源供需将趋于缓和,但是增加煤炭产量和减少消费的任务十分艰巨。     

供需视角下煤炭安全评价指标体系与实证

通过分析煤炭供需安全的影响因素,构建煤炭安全评价指标体系,运用AHP法、熵值法和TOPSIS分析方法,对2008-2011年中国煤炭安全度进行测算。结果表明：造成煤炭安全波动的主要因素包括新增煤炭探明储量的变化、替代能源占能源消费比重的变化、煤炭资源供需增速比值的变化。因此,维护我国煤炭安全需要进一步增加煤炭探明储量、提高替代能源消费比例和维持煤炭供需增速稳定,实现煤炭的有效供给。