关于农业两部制水价制定方法的探讨

剖析《灌溉排水学报》2005年第2期发表的“可持续发展条件下的农业水价制定研究”一文中提出的农业水价制定原则、农业两部制水价的内涵、农业用水两部制定价模式及具体表达式等问题,指出其具体计价、计费公式存在着物理意义模糊、不同用水条件考虑不全面、定价模式本身存在着实际操作性较差且不能保证供水单位持续运行的缺陷。提出农业用水应考虑公平性原则、两部制定价的意义及两种农业用水两部制水价定价模式等。     

中国应当适时改变铁矿石定价机制——定价机制与中国利益关系的经济学证明

文章基于垄断厂商的定价理论,对铁矿石国际长期协议价格的定价机制,及这一机制是如何影响我国钢铁业原料成本等问题作了分析.分析所得出的结论与市场对这一问题的认知大相径庭,文章认为,正是现行的铁矿石定价机制保护了中国钢铁企业,在铁矿石需求大幅上涨的时候,没有因高度垄断的铁矿石供应格局而受到价格歧视从而遭受损失.但是当市场需求大幅萎缩的时候,作为世界上最大的铁矿石采购国,中国却有必要对原有定价机制进行改进,制定独立于世界的中国价格.     

基于二叉树模型的农业可转债定价研究——以天康转债为例

以天康转债为例,通过构建二叉树模型对其进行定价研究,可以得到2020年4月3日天康转债的理论价格为180.69元,当日实际价格为176.88元,两者相差不大。为了更加直观地显示运用二叉树模型计算出的理论价格与实际价格的偏差,形成30个交易日的理论价格与实际价格对比图,研究表明二叉树法得出的理论价格与实际价格基本一致。将二叉树定价模型运用到其他农业可转债中,除宏辉转债外,其他可转债理论价格与实际价格偏差不大。     

Retail Price Fixity as a Facilitating Mechanism

Previous theoretical explanations for retail price fixity show that fixed retail prices can be consistent with either competitive or imperfectly competitive behavior. We develop a conceptual model of retail pricing wherein fixed price points are facilitating mechanisms for tacit collusion. A non-cooperative equilibrium in fixed retail prices is supported through credible threats to revert to Nash pricing if cheating is suspected. We test the implications of this model using a two-stage, ordered probit approach in weekly supermarket pricing data. The results show that price fixity does support collusive equilibria among retailers, but other factors may also explain retail price behavior.     

Processing Technology,Market Power and Price Transmission

This paper focuses on the extent to which price changes occurring at the farm-level are transmitted to the retail sector. A price transmission elasticity is derived which is shown to depend on the degree of market power in the food industry and the nature of the food industry's processing technology. The offsetting role of the processing technology and market power in determining the extent of price transmission are highlighted. A case-study reports values for the price transmission elasticity for the US beef and pork sectors.     

The Competitive Implications of Top-of-the-Market and Related Contract-Pricing Clauses

This article examines the competitive implications of contract pricing arrangements, which link the contract price to the subsequent cash price. We focus on so-called "top-of-the-market pricing" (TOMP) in cattle procurement. The TOMP clause is shown to have anticompetitive consequences when the same buyers who purchase contract cattle with the TOMP clause also compete to procure cattle in the subsequent spot market. The TOMP clause reduces packers' incentives to compete aggressively in the spot market. Although TOMP pricing is not in producers' collective interest, rational sellers may nonetheless sign these contracts with little or no financial inducement.     

Water conveyance,return flows and technology choice

This paper develops a spatial conjunctive use model of an irrigation project in which the regulatory agency determines investments in the centralized distribution system and farmers decide the level of on-farm technology in the field. Irrigation return flows are assumed to recharge the groundwater aquifer. It is shown that there is specialization in production with upstream farmers using surface water and downstream farmers pumping from the aquifer. An empirical model suggests that the proportion of return flows has a significant effect on the level of investments in water distribution as well as in the field. For example, if return flows are relatively high, it may be optimal to allow for significant water losses from the canal and the fields. It suggests that the project pricing and technology adoption policies may need to be tempered by consideration of the basinwide impacts of water diversions.     

Managing economic risk in value-based marketing of fed cattle

This research investigates optimal price risk management strategies for fed cattle producers engaged in grid pricing. Stochastic simulation is used to determine optimal hedge ratios for fed cattle priced on a live weight basis or on a series of grids that vary in terms of premium/discount structure as well as base price. Results indicate that the optimal hedging strategy is greatly affected by the base price used in a particular grid. This has significant implications for pricing efficiency in the cattle market. Base prices that are linked more closely with downstream markets offer the potential to improve pricing efficiency; however, the risk associated with these prices is difficult to manage effectively with existing futures instruments.     

农业水价改革绩效的熵权模糊综合评价

随着农业水价改革在全国范围内不断地试点展开,客观上要求建立有效、合理并且实用的农业水价改革绩效评价体系和评价方法,以便科学、客观地反映改革试点的农业水价改革的成效与不足,为进一步推动改革的发展提供参考。为此,构建了农业水价改革的绩效评价体系,并提出一种熵权模糊综合评价模型。模型运用熵权法确定评价指标的权重向量,并运用模糊综合评价方法将农业水价改革绩效中的模糊性、复杂性以及不确定性进行综合量化,得出评价结果。将模型运用于实例中的湖南省农业水价改革试点的绩效评价,结果表明:该模型是合理可行的,能较为全面客观地反映农业水价改革试点的成效与不足,在实践中具有一定的应用价值。     

WINE QUALITY DIFFERENTIALS IN HEDONIC GRAPE PRICING

The paper focuses on identification and evaluation of wine quality characteristics of grapes. A pricing schedule that rewards producers for quality attributes is developed. This quality-based pricing schedule would serve to reduce the production of poor-quality wines by giving farmers a correct and powerful incentive to provide better grapes. The research evaluates the proposed grape price schedule in two steps. The hedonic qualities of Israeli grapes are estimated by relating the contribution of each grape characteristic to wine quality. Then the price of wine quality is estimated, and the hedonic prices for Israeli grapes are calculated. Results show that the current pricing system pays little premium for a better-quality product.     

The role of retail market power and state regulations in the heterogeneity of farm‐retail price transmission of private label and branded products

Given the leading role of private label brands in the fluid milk market, it is of special interest to focus on possible differences in farm‐retail price transmission between private label and branded milk as well as the causes of heterogeneity. This article examines the heterogeneous effects of private label and branded products on price transmission in the fluid milk market using a panel threshold asymmetric error correction model. Results indicate that upward retail‐price adjustment is faster than the downward price adjustment for both private label and branded milk. The speed of adjustment of private label products is significantly faster than branded products in three different price regimes. We further investigate the reasons of heterogeneity in farm‐retail price transmission of private label milk. We find that both retailer market power and state pricing regulations contribute to the heterogeneity in asymmetric price transmission. Higher retailer market power causes retail prices of private label milk to rise faster and to fall slower. The existence of a state pricing regulation slows down the adjustment speed of retail prices of private labels back to the long‐run equilibrium, regardless of whether the retail price is low or high.     

基于ELES模型的城市居民生活用水水价分析——以重庆市为例

以重庆市为例,对居民生活用水现状及城市供水的定价进行分析研究,基于ELES模型,分析重庆市居民生活用水水价的支付能力。结果表明:水费支出承受能力随可支配收入的增加而增加;用水需求收入弹性随可支配收入的增加而增大;低收入户的生活用水基本需求支出处于警戒线;2016年重庆市实施了阶梯水价的计价方式,定价基本合理,存在一定的改进空间。     

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY RESPONSE: PADDY IN SRI LANKA

An aggregate analysis of supply response in the paddy (rice) sector of Sri Lanka during 1952-87 is conducted to identify the impact of pricing policy, irrigation programmes, institutional credit and concessional sales on area, yield and overall supply. The focus of the estimation procedure is the selection of an appropriate functional form for regressions and on the price variable that best represents the price to which producers respond in making area and yield decisions. In the case of both area and yield, the econometric criteria favour the acceptance of log-linear equations with the ratio of the guaranteed price of paddy to fertiliser price. On the basis of overall supply elasticity estimates, it is concluded that while pricing policy, irrigation programmes and institutional credit provide incentives to the expansion of paddy production, concessional sales of rice act as a disincentive.     

Livestock pricing policy in sub-Saharan Africa: objectives,instruments and impact in five countries

Livestock pricing policies in many developing countries are often instituted without a good appreciation of the consequences of such policies for allocative efficiency, output and trade. This paper evaluates, in a comparative cross-country context, the objectives and instruments of livestock pricing policy in five sub-Saharan African countries: Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe during the period 1970-86. It assesses the extent to which pricing policy objectives have been attained, and also estimates the effects of price interventions on output, consumption, trade and government revenues in order to draw out lessons for the future. The empirical results indicate that in comparison with real border prices, a certain degree of success was achieved in stabilising real domestic producer prices in the study countries. The results also show that since the early 1980s, there has been a gradual shift away from taxation of producers. However, consumers still appear to gain as much as producers in three of the study countries, with negative consequences for foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic inflation and exchange rates as key variables for livestock pricing policies and highlights the need to address the macroeconomic imbalances that cause exchange rate distortions and high domestic inflation at the same time that direct price distortions are being tackled.     

Pricing to Market Behavior by Canadian and U.S. Agri-food Exporters: Evidence from Wheat, Pulse and Apples

A fixed-effects model to control for time variation in marginal costs is employed to pinpoint evidence of price discriminatory behavior of Canadian and U.S. exporters of agri-food products. We test for evidence of pricing to market behavior and whether price discrimination or commodity/country characteristics may provide a plausible explanation. A distinguishing feature of our approach is to examine the time-series properties of the data by the conventional augmented Dickey-Fuller and recently developed panel unit root test. The panel data set employed in this paper consists of annual exchange rates and export prices for three agri-food products (wheat, pulse and apples) exported by Canada and the U.S. in foreign markets during 1980–98. Our fixed-effects model suggests that U.S. exporters are sensitive to exchange rate changes, while Canadian exporters in most cases raised price markups in response to a depreciated currency in overseas markets. The results highlight the differences in pricing policy that both countries employ to merchandise agri-food products in export markets.     

Price Discrimination in the Context of Vertical Differentiation: An Application to Canadian Wheat Exports

The ability of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to price discriminate in wheat exports is examined. The conceptual model shows that the CWB's ability to exploit cost differences in pricing depends on the extent of differentiation between Canadian and U.S. wheat. This model is implemented using monthly confidential price data for exports to four markets from 1982 to 1994. The empirical results support the conclusions that (1) the CWB has market power emerging from product differentiation, (2) the CWB price discriminates across export markets, and (3) Alchian–Allen effects are important in pricing in markets valuing quality such as Japan and the United Kingdom.     

国内外城市居民生活水价及可承受能力分析

水价作为重要的经济杠杆对促进节约用水具有重要意义。通过分析国内外典型城市现状居民生活水价及水价承受能力,得出3方面结论:国内外城市一般采用全成本水价定价方法,考虑供水的资源成本、工程成本和环境成本,发达国家城市居民水价明显高于国内城市,我国东部城市水价高于中西部,北方城市水价高于南方;计价模式主要有单一制水价和固定费用与可变费用相结合的模式,国内城市和东京、新加坡均实行阶梯水价;国内外水价差异较大,各城市居民人均月水费支出占可支配收入的比值(R值)均偏低,我国R值明显低于国际城市R值,不利于发挥节水激励作用。建议根据实际情况合理调整水价,支撑节水型社会建设。     

Could packers manipulate spot markets by tying contracts to futures prices? And do they?

Some producers, policy makers, and researchers claim that packers influence cash prices through contracts tied to futures prices. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical study on the price effects of contract-pricing terms linked to futures price and the related formula pricing terms linked to a cash price. We show that contract-pricing terms tied to a cattle futures price can theoretically be used to reduce the cash price. Furthermore, the model demonstrates that such tied-to-a-futures-price contract-pricing clauses and the related tied-to-a-cash-price formula pricing clauses can be substitutable tools for packers to depress the cash cattle price. Nevertheless, although empirical results are consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model they show that while such manipulations may occur, their market power impact appears quite small.     

‘Because it matters’

Basic economic logic, which often simplifies assessments and explanations of agricultural policy issues, is vitally important in communicating with policy-makers. Resources are limited, and there is a premium on getting decisions at least approximately right first time. Examples from southern Africa illustrate the importance of parity pricing, and its links to household food security (Lesotho), price risk, the emergence of an agricultural futures market, and its central role in allocating scarce agricultural resources (South Africa). Insights derived from an appreciation of parity pricing are relevant in other national contexts and also help explain how international grain markets operate. The parity pricing concept provides a framework for sense-checking complicated debates relating to two issues that have been prominent in recent years; first, whether and to what extent speculation in futures markets has been a driver of agricultural price spikes, and second, how far indirect land use change (ILUC), triggered by the use of agricultural feedstocks to produce renewable energy, is a material issue. These issues are likely to be of heightened importance in the face of climate change. Each emphasises that agricultural economics matters, and that it matters that we get the economics right.     

日本的自来水价格及水价制度面临的新课题

简要介绍日本水价的现状，日本水价制定的原则，日本水价的分类和构成，日本东京水价计算实例，日本东京生活用水情况以及由于日本人口减少和人口高龄化使日本水价制度面临水费基价变动的新课题。提出我国应借鉴水资源相对丰富的日本的水价及节水经验，完善水价法规政策，建立以节水为核心的合理的水价形成机制，进行供水管理体制改革。