Grain inflation: Identifying agent discretion in response to a conditional school nutrition program

Many incentive programs rely on local agents with significant discretion to allocate benefits. We estimate the degree of discretion exercised by teachers within a conditional transfer program designed to improve nutrition and encourage student attendance in Mumbai, India. The program allocates grain to students every month their attendance exceeds 80% , creating an incentive for teachers to inflate attendance to benefit certain students. We find that teachers manipulate students' records, altering the incentives to attend school. The teachers' response also varies across students. Teachers inflate more for girls, better students, and students from lower castes, but less for Muslim students.     

Variations in farm consumption and their relationship to income: an empirical investigation of Illinois farm households

Empirical tests of household consumption have yielded mixed results regarding the validity of the life cycle/permanent income (LCPI) hypothesis. A significant problem with such studies is the difficulty in finding sufficient micro-level data on household expenditures. By using the recent rich quantity of such data in the Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) data for Illinois farms from 1995 to 2009, the study reported here for farm households should provide more consistent results regarding the LCPI hypothesis. Applying an empirical model based on the LCPI hypothesis, this article identifies the determinants of farm consumption and the relationship to income. This study provides evidence that current income changes are not significant in explaining the consumption changes of farm households, thus supporting the LCPI hypothesis for farm households.     

Livelihoods and farm efficiency in rural Georgia

This study contributes to the literature on the role of livelihood strategies in rural growth and poverty reduction. It distinguishes between livelihood diversity strategies that contribute to sustainable growth in household incomes, and those that mainly have a ‘coping’ function. It suggests that typically, the contribution of livelihood diversity to growing household income is through relaxing dependence on credit for access to capital. In this scenario, livelihood diversity would lead to higher technical efficiency in agriculture via investment and thereby to higher household incomes. Survey data from Georgia are introduced and used to test these hypotheses using a Bayesian stochastic frontier approach. The findings are relevant to defining more clearly the scope and aims of policies to stimulate the rural non-farm economy in developing and transition countries.     

Agricultural enlargement of the EU under Agenda 2000: Surplus of farm labour versus surplus of farm products

In the Commission's proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and enlargement of the EU (Agenda 2000), the agriculture of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is denied future access to compensatory payments for cuts in support prices in the EU15. To offset this, the acceding countries are promised a similar net amount of structural aid for their economy and society at large. This dual treatment aims at preventing agricultural surpluses and intersectoral distortion after accession. However, the actual situation and dynamics of agriculture in Central Europe (CE) compared to that in the EU does not support the surplus assumption globally, but only for certain products, chiefly grains. So far overlooked, but nevertheless, a key obstacle opposing competitive recovery, is the tendency of the dual, post-communist agrarian structures, faced with high rural unemployment, to protect long-term underproductive farm labour to the detriment of capital and land remuneration, mainly in livestock production. This configuration is supported by specific trade and land protections, and loose qualittative regulations that will be challenged by the EU enlargement. So, after accession under the Agenda 2000 schedule, it seems likely that CEE countries will achieve European competitiveness only at the cost of some recession, further deterioration of trade balances with the EU 15 and sharp decreases in farm employment levels. These factors would chiefly affect livestock production which, combined with crop intensification, is likely to result in a substantial increase in grain surpluses. Later on, the enlarged EU will have to bear the inevitable social consequences that transitional periods after accession might otherwise have postponed.     

External military threat and the response of the member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)

The study shows that procurements of traditional arms by two countries have the possibility of moving together over time. This is demonstrated with reference to Iran and the member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) for the period 1961- 1996. Acquiring arms by the member states of the GCC is shown to be only a response to the perception of their leaders to the external threat posed by Iran throughout the varying regimes that have ruled Teheran. In the light of the recent emergence of macroeconomic problems such as unemployment in the economies of the GCC coupled with the ineffectiveness of the financially exhausting build-up of arms as a military deterrent policy, one important implication of the study is that the priority of the GCC leaders will have to turn to a more effective deterrent policy such as acquiring nuclear technology rather than engaging in a costly and unsuccessful Arab military alliance as experienced in the 1970s.     

Off- and on-farm labour participation in Italian farm households

Most farms are family business, both in developed and developing countries. Labour allocation choices of farm household members are therefore relevant both for production choices in the farm and for rural labour markets. In particular, off-farm work and combination of on- and off-farm work (pluriactivity) are viewed as an efficient allocation of household labour resources. Moreover, labour choice of the children of the farm household is relevant for farm succession. In this article, we extend previous literature by estimating in an unified framework labour participation choices both for on- and off-farm work for operators, spouses and their eldest children in working age, using a five equation multivariate probit.     

Measuring farm sustainability and explaining differences in sustainable efficiency

A major objective of European agricultural policy is to have a sustainable and efficient farming sector that is applying environmentally-friendly production methods. Policy makers aim to combine a strong economic performance and a sustainable use of natural resources. Therefore, it is important to measure and to assess farm sustainability. For a large dataset of Flemish dairy farms, a valuation method that is based on the concept of opportunity costs is used to calculate and analyze differences among the sample farms with respect to the creation of “sustainable value”. But more important than measuring the creation of sustainable value is to analyze differences in sustainable efficiency. Therefore, sustainable efficiency measures are calculated and differences in sustainable efficiency are explained. Using panel data, an effect model captures the determinants of sustainable efficiency of the studied farms. The empirical model shows that, in general, larger farms have a higher sustainable efficiency. Also farmer's age and dependency on support payments proved to be determining characteristics for observed differences in sustainable efficiency.     

Ozone pollution and farm profits in England and Wales

Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant known to adversely affect crop yields across Europe. Experimental work is underway to quantify yield effects at ambient ozone levels for a number of crops. In this article, we undertake direct, farm-level evaluation of the impact of ozone by estimating a multi-output profit function using a panel dataset of cereal farms in England and Wales. A system of equations, comprising the profit function, input and output share equations is estimated using a fixed-effects seemingly unrelated regression technique, with ozone as a quasi-fixed input. Estimated parameters are used to calculate tropospheric ozone-related profit and output supply elasticities. The main findings from the profit function show that a 10% increase in average ozone levels would decrease variable profits by 1.3% and wheat output supply by 1%. These results are of a significantly lower magnitude, but qualitatively consistent with findings from similar studies carried out in North America.     

Individual response to a retirement saving program: results from U.S. panel data

Heterogeneity in individual saving behaviour presents the major difficulty in determining the saving effect of special retirement saving programs. We address that issue in this paper by “using individuals as their own controls”. The paper considers changes in other saving when individuals made contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) near the outset of that program. The analysis is based on the 1984 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). For the most part, we find that when individuals who were not contributing to an IRA began to contribute there was little change in other saving.     

An analysis of multiple structural breaks in US relative farm prices

The movement of farm prices relative to other commodity prices is analysed for the period 1913:01 to 2003:12, investigating the number and time of structural breaks and discussing likely causes of structural breaks in the relative farm prices. Bai and Perron's (1998, 2003) multiple structural change test with a dynamic programming algorithm is used. This test makes it possible to have an efficient computation of the estimates of the break points as global minimizers of the sum of squared residuals. We find six structural breaks when we consider only the mean process and two breaks when we consider the mean and autoregressive processes. Possible causes for these breaks are discussed.     

Frictions in Project-Based Supply of Permits

Emissions trading in climate change can entail large overall cost savings and transfers between developed and developing countries. However, the search for acceptable JI or CDM projects implies a deviation from the perfect market framework used in previous estimations. Our model combines the search market for projects with a frictionless permit market to quantify the supply-side frictions in the CO₂ market. We also decompose the effects of frictions into the effects of search friction, bargaining, and bilateralism. A calibration using previous cost estimates of CO₂ reductions illustrate changes in cost savings and allocative implications.     

On generic vs. brand promotion of farm products in foreign markets

Farm groups and their governments spend millions of dollars each year advertising agricultural products in international markets. Intuitively, country-of-origin or ‘brand’ advertising should be more profitable than generic advertising in that it enhances product differentiation and reduces free riding. However, unlike generic advertising, brand advertising decreases the demand for competing imports and lowers their prices when supplies are upward sloping. In addition to inviting retaliation, the decline in the prices of competing products erodes the price of the advertised product through second-round or ‘market feedback’ effects. In this study, we develop a generalized model for assessing the relative effectiveness of generic and brand promotion in the international market when products are differentiated by source origin and supplies are uncontrolled. Applying the model to US beef promotion in Japan, we find that when brand and generic advertising are equally efficient in the sense that they cause equivalent horizontal shifts in the group and product-specific demand curves, generic advertising is indeed more profitable for most of the relevant parameter space. Distributional analysis suggests that, with equal export supply elasticities, the gross benefits of generic advertising are distributed across exporters in proportion to the expenditure elasticities for the products in question.     

The innovation of China＇s farm products marketing

Aimed at the current actuality of farm products in China, the key point is the innovation of marketing if we want to share farm products market. This article discusses on four aspects： The innovation of both tactics and strategies of the farm products marketing; using the new marketing means, selling the products on Internet; improving the standard of the products, opening out the green products; the new sale mode. This article will give the active effect for the China＇s farm products market ing.     

Thinking about developmental states in Africa

During much of the 1980s and 90s, a literature emerged suggestingthat ‘developmental states’ were impossible in Africa.The arguments given ranged from cultural ones about the pervasivenature of clientalism to structural ones on the dependence ofAfrican economies or the atypical levels of rent seeking inAfrican economies. This paper argues that Africa has had statesthat were ‘developmental’ in both their aspirationsand economic performance. It further argues that these experiencesneed to be examined critically for useful lessons, an exercisethat has been hindered by an excessive levelling of the Africanpolitical and economic landscapes.     

新疆兵团新型团场基层组织重构问题研究

本文以制度变迁理论、资源优化配置理论和经济学、社会学相关理论为基础，从技术追步、社会资源优化配置以及职工需求角度，考察了兵团基层社会组织重耩的机理；并且从兵团特殊体制、特殊使命的实际情况出发，提出了在屯垦戍边新型团场建设追程中，兵团基层社会组织重耩的模式及政策建议。     

由劳工紧缺想到的

我国自经济改革以来，走外向型经济为主导的发展模式，是由当时的客观条件造成的，要迅速发展经济，靠国内的资本和市场是根本不可能的。引进外资，发展外向型经济成了惟一的选择。广东靠近香港，服装、鞋子、电子等以出口为主的劳动密集型加工厂在珠三角遍布开来，吸引了全国的农村劳动力南下，以至广州火车站至今还是数一数二的混乱车站。在当时，几百元的工资对于那些没有文化只能依赖土地生存的农民来说，     

Tax efficiency in selected Indian states

This paper attempts to measure pure tax efficiency of fifteen major Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) for the period 1980–81 to 1992–93 in a manner that allows this efficiency to vary both across time as well as across states. It is discovered that there is a moral hazard problem in the design of central grants in that higher grants by the central government to the state governments reduce efficiency of tax collection by these states. The less poor states are more efficient in tax collection. The rankings of states by tax efficiency for the various years do not converge. An index of aggregate tax efficiency is calculated and it appears that this index has been stagnating. It is argued that the weight placed on tax effort in the formula determining central grants to state governments should be increased to improve tax efficiency of state governments. First version received: November 1997/final version received: November 1998     

马克思的供求理论与新古典供求理论之比较

马克思经济学由于其研究目的所限,没有系统的供求理论体系,因而其供求理论没得到很好的研究。其实,马克思在许多地方对供给和需求进行了论述,并认为供给和需求范畴在经济学中是重要的。在发展马克思经济学时,应该建立马克思主义系统的供求理论体系。马克思对供求的论述与西方经济学供求理论存在本质上的分歧,但新古典经济学供求理论的数量分析方法和工具可以为马克思主义经济学发展的借鉴。