The potential benefits of herbicide-resistant transgenic rice in Uruguay: Lessons for small developing countries

In many developing countries, the potential benefits from adopting a transgenic variety developed by a multinational corporation are limited by the crop’s small production base. This paper presents an ex-ante evaluation of the economic impact of herbicide resistant transgenic rice in a small developing country, Uruguay. To fully account for the multinational’s market power, the firm’s seed markup is assumed to affect the adoption rate for the variety. Stochastic simulation techniques are employed to understand how potential benefits may vary with changes in technology, yield, costs, and adoption parameters. The results indicate a $1.82 million mean net present value for producers from the development and utilization of transgenic rice in Uruguay and $0.55 million for the multinational. These relatively small multinational firm benefits suggest that a firm will not undertake significant efforts to develop transgenic varieties adapted to local conditions without either strategic partnerships with local institutions or access to wider regional markets.     

Technology adoption and value chains in developing countries: Evidence from dairy in India

Adoption of modern technologies in agriculture is crucial for improving productivity and welfare of poor farmers in developing countries. Not much is known about how value chains do (not) affect technology transfer and/or adoption in food chains in developing countries. We analyze farm-level technology adoption in the dairy chain in India, using unique survey data. The dairy chain in India is an important case because the Indian government has promoted development of the dairy sector for its potential for ‘pro-poor’ growth, and because value chain initiatives had strong effects on dairy farm technology in other countries with imperfect markets and growth in demand. We find that despite rapid growth in milk consumption and production, technology adoption in the form of better hygienic practices, better feed and improved livestock was mixed, and low for certain regions and technologies. So far, the role of value chains in the adoption of new technologies seems to be minor.     

Branding and agricultural value chains in developing countries: Insights from Bihar (India)

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the fast emergence – a doubling over 5 years – of more expensive packed and branded products. The effect on consumers is ambiguous. While the emergence of brands leads to increasing differentiation in retail markets, the brands in these settings provide however mostly incomplete or misleading information for the consumer and quality contained in branded bags is often lower than for loose products. We further also find that there are little direct benefits to the farmers from the presence of these brands.     

Telecommunications in developing countries

The conditions in which telecommunication services are established and expanded in the developing countries are very different from those experienced in the industrial nations. The author provides insight into the peculiarities of the telecommunication sector in developing countries, discussing characteristics related to the structure of the sector, system size and quality, telecommunications as a business, limitations to faster growth, and some particular problem areas, including the impact on economic development, especially in rural areas, training and education directed towards high technical and managerial positions, and the manufacture of equipment.     

Research for agriculture in developing countries: The US role

The author argues that the USA can make a great contribution to research on food and agriculture in developing countries. He outlines the organizational and attitudinal constraints to this contribution, reviews previous studies that have recommended a redistribution of research resources, and analyses the reasons why resources should be redirected to increase the US contribution to the solution of world hunger problems.     

Demand for telecommunication services in developing countries

Living standards and economic growth in developing countries are invariably linked to the availability and use of telecom services. Effective policy decisions require the best estimates of the drivers of these services. In this paper, telecommunications demand is estimated in models for residential mainline and mobile telephone service for developing countries for the period 1996–2003. The paper tests for cross-price effects between mainline and mobile service and its findings have important policy implications. It finds residential monthly price elasticity to be insignificant for developing countries, but the connection elasticity is larger than generally found in the literature. Mobile monthly price elasticities are very large. A new and important empirical finding is that although wireline phones are substitutes in the mobile market, the contrary is not true—mobile phones are not substitutes in the wireline market, and in fact may be considered complements. This lack of symmetry has important implications for properly defining telecom markets. Universal service subsidies and competitive market initiatives should be reevaluated in light of the paper's elasticity estimates. Increased competition, income growth and enhanced education may be the ultimate universal service promoters.     

Privatizing agriculture : Policy options in developing countries

This paper examines the background to, and options for, privatization of state-owned enterprises in the agricultural sector in developing countries. It identifies areas of the sector where privatization is feasible and those likely to remain under government control. It is concluded that, while there is some scope for privatization, it is unlikely to be as extensive as in other sectors since much of the production is already in private hands, there is limited capacity to pay for services and the capability of the private sector is currently low.     

Korean telecom policy in global competition: implications for developing countries

United States efforts to open the Korean telecommunications market have been incessant and tenacious, to the extent that Korea is the only country to be twice designated by the US as a priority foreign country (PFC). Through major restructuring driven by the Korean government, the telecommunications infrastructure of Korea has been strengthened and expanded, and in the process has posed a threat to the US telecommunications industry. Thus, since the late 1980s, the Korean telecommunications industry has been monitored and threatened with trade sanctions by the United States Trade Representative, and all internal restructuring has been closely related to bilateral negotiations with the US, and multilateral negotiations in the Uruguay Round. Based on interviews with key Korean telecommunications personnel and analyses of public documents, this research examines the Korean telecommunications market, telecommunications policies relative to the US and WTO, and the recent economic crisis that has affected the stability of the industry. The paper also offers five major recommendations to government and industry policymakers, including a more active and positive stance toward liberalisation, the relinquishing by bureaucrats of their monopolistic power over policymaking, the securing of an open and transparent policymaking process, and, in relations with the US, and the mobilisation of regional and multilateral organisations to ensure fair competition in telecommunications.     

Strategies for high-technology equipment manufacturing in developing countries

The authors present a methodology to establish local manufacturing in a developing country with a modest telecommunications industry. The main focus of the article is on the analysis of high-technology equipment that can be applied to a large variety of computing, communications, and control systems. They conclude that with strategic planning the import content of electronic equipment can be reduced if the country in question shows potential for local manufacturing. This strategic planning requires commitments with local industry for technical assistance and three to five year purchasing programmes. For countries with a limited industrial background a manufacturing effort could be initiated through the establishment of assembly factories which in general make use of low local labour cost. A requirement for the transfer of technology to local industry must be established with these factories.     

Food insecurity in developing countries

Despite improvements in the world food predicament, the underlying causes of food crises have not disappeared. The aim of this article is to improve understanding of food security problems in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and to assess the relative merits of alternative national and international intervention schemes. The article includes discussion of the concept of ‘food security’, policies that can be undertaken at the national level, a quantitative assessment of national food insecurity for a sample of LDCs, and an examination of the proposed international policies to enhance food security in food-deficit countries.     

Small-scale food industries : Improving performance in developing countries

This article reviews the role of small-scale food processing industries in the socioeconomic growth of developing countries, with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the productivity of a model enterprise and identifies inadequate planning and availability of raw materials as major causes of low levels of performance. The contributions which university-related small-scale industrial facilities such as the model could make towards improving operations of the sector are discussed.     

Local exchange competition in early US network development: considerations for developing countries

This paper examines the claim that competition between the Bell system and independent telephone companies, and not AT&T's regulated monopoly, was responsible for the rapid growth in telephone penetration in the United States. A mathematical model is developed to test if competition contributed to network expansion, when alternative explanations such as diffusion and economic growth are also taken into account. The model is estimated with time series data on telephone penetration in the US from 1876 to 1982, using both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS). The results indicate that local exchange competition is indeed a significant influence on increase in telephone penetration, even in the early stages of network development. This has clear policy implications for the current transition to competition in developing countries.     

Concentration in ownership of plant variety rights: some implications for developing countries

This paper explores concentration levels in the ownership of intellectual property rights over plant varieties worldwide. An analysis of data for 30 UPOV member-countries shows a high degree of concentration in the ownership of plant variety rights for six major crops at the national level in the developed world. Much of this concentration has arisen owing to the rapid consolidation of the seed industry through mergers and acquisitions, especially in the 1990s. A high degree of concentration in the ownership of plant variety rights, in combination with recent efforts to strengthen plant variety protection regimes, is likely to have significant effects on the prospects for future innovation in plant breeding and the distribution of market power between companies. For developing countries, concentration in intellectual property right ownership may have important implications for the structure of domestic seed industries and access to protected varieties and associated plant breeding technologies. These implications for developing countries are likely to become apparent in the context of the rapid spread of plant variety protection and access legislation, emerging changes in the international exchange regime for plant material and liberalised investment policies permitting foreign investment in the seeds sector.     

Value conflicts in computing developments: Developed and developing countries

The author examines the value conflicts engendered by computing developments in two different institutional settings: electronic funds transfer systems and instructional computing in primary and secondary schools. While specific values depend upon culture and upon the character of the particular institutional setting studied, these two cases can serve as instructive points of departure for examining the value conflicts which generally accompany different modes of computerization in other developed and developing countries. In particular, computing developments in Brazil illustrate some of the parallels and contrasts between developed and developing countries.     

Food imports of developing countries

The trend of food imports of developing countries and its interpretation are discussed. The author presents an analysis across countries of changes in the food supply balances and cereal imports from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Changes in food energy supplies have not corresponded closely with changes in domestic food production per head, and the increase in imports tends to be greater in middle income than in low income countries. The balance of payments implications are examined, and the article concludes with a consideration of the reliability of international market supplies.     

The food situation in developing countries : Two decades in review

This article presents an overview of the general changes in the food situation in developing countries over the past two decades, and especially since the 1974 World Food Conference. Following an examination of trends in production, consumption and trade in basic food staples of Third World countries, the article looks at possible strategies for improving their food situation.     

Marketing to firms in developing asian countries

The Newly Industrialized and Developing Asian countries represent a substantial and growing market for capital goods and for industrial components. Industrial buyer behavior among firms in these countries is different from that exhibited by firms in the advanced, industrialized countries. Therefore, different marketing strategies are required to penetrate NIC and LDC markets. This article discusses industrial buyer behavior in the NICs and LDCs and makes recommendations for marketing strategies.