THE UK FOOD CHAIN WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE INTER-RELATIONS BETWEEN MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

The paper considers developments over the past decade in the major elements that make up the UK food chain beyond the farm gate, looking at food consumption and the characteristics of food demand, the aggregate marketing margin, and providing a more detailed exploration of the present structure of food manufacturing and distribution. Following an account of the rapid rate of structural change in food retailing and wholesaling, developments in the relationships between distributors and manufacturers are discussed with comments on competition legislation.     

SUPPLY RESPONSE TO PRICE UNDER CERTAINTY,WITH REFERENCE TO THE UNITED KINGDOM EGG MARKET, 1954 TO 1966

Hen egg production in the United Kingdom expanded throughout the 1950's and early 1960's in the face of successive reductions in the guaranteed price thus raising questions about the efficacy of the guaranteed price system as a production control mechanism. The objective of this analysis is to estimate the guaranteed price elasticity of supply of hen eggs over the twelve-year period 1954 to 1966. Two models are used, a conventional linear form and a Nerlove type lagged model. The independent variables considered are the guaranteed price, the price of feed, and egg yield as a proxy for technology. The non-lagged equation is the more satisfactory and gives an elasticity value of 1.66, suggesting that flock owners were highly sensitive to changes in the guaranteed price. This sensitivity tended to be obscured by producer eagerness to profit from technological advance, which was the predominant factor affecting the scale of egg production over the period.     

PLANT PESTICIDE ECONOMICS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COTTON INSECTICIDES

The energy crisis and the current world food situation have both drawn attention to the importance of off-farm inputs in high-technology agricultural systems. Plant pesticides are one of the most important of these off-farm inputs. The correct use of chemical pesticides requires a high level of managerial competence since the issues involved are extremely complex. The development of an integrated approach to the management of plant pests offers an alternative to the increasingly expensive chemical control techniques. Cotton production illustrates both the complexities of the management involved in plant pest control and the feasibility of developing integrated control strategies. Plant pesticides, especially insecticides, also create externalities. The policy issues surrounding the use of cotton insecticides demonstrates the need for careful analysis before political action is taken. A feasible package of policy measures for the control of the use of insecticides in Australian cotton-growing areas is suggested.     

USING REGRESSION ANALYSIS TO REDUCE AGGREGATION BIAS IN LINEAR PROGRAMMING SUPPLY MODELS*

Because methods of eliminating aggregation bias are impracticable, an alternative method is suggested for reducing aggregation bias which uses regression estimates of farm resonrce availabilities as functions of farm size. The estimates are incorporated in a parametric run of the LP problem in which size is parameterized. The method is applied to a case study problem, and the results compared with other methods of demarcating representative farms.     

TAXATION,COST OF CAPITAL AND INVESTMENT IN AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE*

The concept and measurement of the cost of capital is developed to include particularly the role of taxation in investment behaviour. The relative importance of factors influencing investment in plant and machinery is examined for five sectors which make up the broadacre industry of Australia. It is shown that residual funds are important in determining plant and machinery investment, but not through the normally hypothesised channels. It is not the increased liquidity from increased income which raises investment, but the fall in the cost of capital, which is associated with the marginal rate of tax.     

AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION TO LINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS WITH STOCHASTIC INPUT-OUTPUT COEFFICIENTS

Deriving acceptable farm plans where input-output coefficients are stochastic is a complex problem. Previous formulations have required many simplifying assumptions about the stochastic variables in the analysis. This paper presents an alternative approach based on the mean absolute deviation, which permits solution by a conventional linear programming algorithm whilst avoiding some of those assumptions previously required. The formulation also incorporates a stochastic objective function. Examples are provided using the situation of stochastic feed supply with reference to representative sheep-grain farms on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Results from these suggest that this alternative approach is a distinct improvement on earlier stochastic formulations which utilize linear programming algorithms.     

ON THE ANALYSIS OF A SIMPLEX LINEAR PROGRAMMING SOLUTION TABLEAU-WITH REFERENCE TO NET REVENUE STABILITY LIMITS

An assumption in a conventional net revenue stability analysis of a linear programming solution tableau is that net revenues are independent. For many activities this assumption is violated in that changes in a particular activity's net revenue may nell be associated with changes in other activities' net revenues. The significance of the independence assumption is examined for an example problem, and a method of calculating the range over which a particular activity's net revenue can vary without giving rise to a sub-optimal solution where activity net revenues are correlated is developed.     

THE DEMAND FOR CANADIAN SEAWEEDS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO IRISH MOSS*

The acquisition of a new industry has been the major goal of many rural areas, especially in the Maritimes region of Canada. Faced not only with a marginal possibility of increasing their catch but also with the likelihood of a decline in the catch in many species of fish, the emergence of a seaweed industry, notwithstanding its occurrence in specified areas, provides a welcome feature for some fishermen and farmers. This additional or alternative source of income provides a stability hitherto not experienced in the areas. This article assesses the demand for Canadian seaweeds via a demand model and appraises the policy implications emanating from the forecasts of the model. The conclusions suggest that the almost non-existent management at the resource level (season limits in terms of months harvested are in effect) and the concomitant problems linked to a common property resource could give rise to difficulties for continued growth and the attainment of maximum returns which may be averted. La création ?une nouvelle Industrie est ce que recherchent depuis longtemps de nombreuses régions rurales, particulierement dans la region canadienne des Mart-limes. Enlrevoyant qui! leur est fort peu possible ?accroitre leurs prises et qu'il leur faut plutot envisager une diminution des prises dans le cas de nombreuses espèces de poisson, nombre de pécheurs et cultivateurs vient ?un bon oeil ?apparition ?une induslrie des algues marines, méme si ces dernières ne sont récollees que dans des secteurs particuliers. Ce supplément de revenu ou autre source de revenu offre une chance de stabiliser qu'on n'avait jamais connue dans les secteurs en cause. Dans le prèsent article, ?auteur èvalue à?aide ?un modèle la demande ?algues marines du Canada et ètudie ce qu'implique sur le plan des positions à adopter les réponses obtenues du modèle. Ces réponses incitenl à croire que la quasi-absence de gestion au niveau de la ressource (la saison des récoltes est réglemente) et les problémes de ?exploitation ?une ressource commune, pourraient provoquer sur le plan de ?expansion continue et de la realisation de réndements maximum des difficultes qui! serait possible ?éviler.     

A PORTFOLIO MODEL FOR EVALUATING RISK IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS,WITH AN APPLICATION TO AGRICULTURE IN NIGER

After a literature review, a planning and project evaluation model is developed that includes both risk and profit considerations but avoids some weaknesses of other mean-variance models. Agricultural extension and project evaluation results of an application of this model are compared to those of the common profit-maximisation model. The two sets of results differ on the worth of intercropping, the relative merits of raising small ruminants and cattle, the likelihood of success of a major livestock development programme (which would benefit only wealthier farmers), the benefits of introducing labour-saving technologies, and the value of teaching/demonstration components in the projects being evaluated.     

INVESTMENT IN PRACTICE: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO GRANT-AIDED PRODUCTION OF CROPS UNDER GLASS

A pilot study of investment was made on twenty glasshouse-crop holdings in Kent on which action had been taken under the Horticulture Improvement Scheme. Attention was given to behavioural aspects as well as to financial results, in the expectation that large discrete investments would provide knowledge of investment practice. Most growers in the sample were found not to make a prior evaluation of new investment or to be concerned with its economic efficiency. They paid more attention to technical matters and their own relative eficiency (their comparative standing within the industry). All growers in a financial sub-sample of nine increased their annual revenue by investment, but the proportionate aggregate increase was very little greater than that in the aggregate value of fixed assets created. In the latest year of the post-investment period, the average return per invested-half this investment being two to three years old-was shown by accounts to be less than 10 per cent. The economic test of rate of return on added capital is shown to be impracticable. It is postulated that major investments may not provide forecast cash flows as quickly or as fully as frequently anticipated. Past forecasts must often have been made without empirical knowledge of post-investment situations.     

解决“三农”问题的产业化途径——发展粮食深加工

2004年,我国一系列政策都突出强调了增加农民收入的紧迫性、重要性,并将发展农业产业化经营,搞好主产区粮食加工增值转化作为解决“三农”问题的主要途径之一。一、农业产业化是解决“三农”问题的必由之路随着市场经济体制的不断完善和市场竞争日趋激烈,农民以家庭作为一个经济实体进入市场,并按市场要求安排生产和进行商品交换的超小规模、高度分散的经营组织方式与大市场之间的矛盾便日益显露,致使农民在流通中所获利益和生产效率越来越低,农业的比较利益和竞争中地位逐步下降,农业发展速度和农民收入增长趋缓、城乡差距有所扩大。只有发…     

THE SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF DOMESTIC OIL PRICE INCREASES ON THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The rise in the domestic price of oil products implied by the new import parity pricing policy for domestic crude oil is likely to pose some problems for macroeconomic management. In this paper an attempt has been made to quantify the short-run adjustment problems involved, using the ORANI 78 model of the Australian economy. Results are presented for a range of variables of interest, including macroeconomic variables, industrial and workforce composition and farm incomes. With fixed real wages, farm incomes are projected to decline by between 6 and 8 per cent.     

LAND USE STUDIES IN BRITAIN: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO APPLICATIONS OF COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS*

Since the ending of World War II increasing attention has been paid in Britain to the need for the formulation of a coherent land use planning strategy. Public control over land use has strengthened and interest in the conceptual and practical problems involved has grown to a sufficient extent to have generated a significant body of literature. This article begins with a short account of the land use planning process, considers the state of land use statistics and outlines the results of work by a number of writers on projections of land requirements in various uses notably for agriculture, forestry and urban expansion. Against this background attention then focuses on the use of cost-benefit analysis as a means of resolving conflicts in land allocation, particularly those which centre on agricultural use as against urban expansion, and agriculture versus forestry development. A further section considers the application of cost-benefit methods in research on recreational uses of land. The paper is designed primarily as a critical survey of the present state of knowledge, though it also indicates areas of study in which the expertise of the agricultural economist might be particularly useful.     

RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITY,RETURNS TO SCALE AND FARM SIZE IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE: SOME RECENT EVIDENCE*

A perceptible technological transformation has been under way in India during the last few years. The output of total foodgrains increased sharply between 1967-68 and 1970-71 over previous years. There is enough evidence to show that the technological change has resulted in an upward shift in production functions for major crops, especially for wheat.     

要像重视"三农"问题那样重视"四矿"问题

文章认为,"四矿"问题,亦即矿业、矿山、矿工、矿城问题,对我国的经济安全和社会稳定以及现代化建设第三步战略目标的实现都具有重大影响.文章通过回顾建国以来我国矿业发展的历史,分析了现实矿业发展过程中存在的五个困难和问题.并提出了解决这些问题和克服这些困难的八项建议.主要包括确立矿业为独立基础产业地位,国家统一管理矿业,建立有利于矿业发展的各种机制和保障制度,理顺矿城和矿业职责关系等.     

WEAK SEPARABILITY AND A TEST FOR THE SPECIFICATION OF INCOME IN DEMAND MODELS WITH AN APPLICATION TO THE DEMAND FOR MEAT IN AUSTRALIA*

Most studies of the demand for meat in Australia have used some measure of total income or expenditure, but two recent studies have assumed weak separability of a meat group and used expenditure on the meat group instead. These specification differences are of interest to the extent that they affect the economic interpretation, goodness-of-fit, elasticity estimates, predictive performance or hypothesis tests in empirical demand equations. In this paper, non-nested hypothesis testing procedures are used to test the alternative specifications of the income variable and the hypothesis of separability. The results favour the use of the expenditure variable implied by separability but are mixed concerning whether separability holds.