Welfare Implications of Community Forest Plantations in Developing Countries: The Orissa Social Forestry Project

Community forest plantations are a common intervention in developing countries. We use household and remote sensing data from Orissa, India, to estimate welfare effects of community forest plantations, in terms of the value of decreased collection times plantations afford users. A selection model, accounting for possible jointness in site location and productivity, is used to estimate collection production functions for different household labor categories in natural and community forests. Two measures of an opportunity cost of time are used to determine welfare effects of time saved due to community forests. We find access to community forests is important to marginal productivity of different labor categories, but to different degrees, highlighting the need to disaggregate household data when analyzing these interventions. We also find substantial welfare improvements from time savings for many households and villages.     

Canadian Industry And Food Production in Developing Countries —An Approach

Some form of assistance for Canadian firms engaged in agribusiness to invest in developing countries should be an important element in any government aid program. This paper discusses why investment of this nature would provide new opportunities for expansion in markets requiring commercial development, as well as a base for expansion in the future, as the economic potential of the developing country is realized and as gains are made in its national output and in the welfare of its inhabitants. New processing facilities would assist the developing country to increase its food production capability, stimulate employment and better the living standards of its people by alleviating hunger and malnutrition. L'inDUSTRIE CANADIENNE ET LA PRODUCTION ALIMENTAIRE DANS LES PAYS SOUS-DÉVELOPPÉS Ce document nous fait part d'une opportunité qu'aurait un programme gouvernemental positif d'encourager des entreprises canadiennes engagÉes dans la production alimentaire, dans l'approvisionnement agricole, ou dans des industries connexes, d'investir dans des pays sous-développés. De tels investissements fourniraient à ces entreprises de nouvelles occasions pour s'agrandir à l'intérieur de marchés présentement prêts pour le développement commercial. Ceci procurerait une base d'expansion constante dans l'avenir, à mesure que le potentiel économique d'un pays sous-développé se réalise et que les gains s'accumulent dans sa production nationale et dans le bien-être de ses habitants. De nouvelles usines alimentaires et des entreprises approvisionnant l'agriculture assisteraient ce pays sous-développéà augmenter sa capacité de production d'aliments, à stimuler l'emploi, et à améliorer le niveau de vie de son peuple en apaisant sa faim et sa sousalimentation. Un marché pour l'exportation canadienne des produits et des services surgirait lorsque ce pays sous-développé atteindrait un niveau plus élevé de développement économique, et une demands accrue de produits et de capitaux deviendrait évidente avec une augmentation du revenu per capita et une accumulation du fond de réserve pour le commerce extérieur.     

Farm Level Models: A Review of Developments, Concepts and Applications in Canada

Development and use of farm-level models has been a major activity of agricultural economists in Canada during the past twenty-five years. In this paper, a review is made of the major contributions of Canadian agricultural economists to farm-level modelling. These activities are interpreted in the context of emerging competition technologies as well as improved understanding of farm-level decision making.
L'élaboration et I'application de modèles d'analyse agro-économique à I'échelle de I'exploitation agricole individuelle ont été une activité importante des économistes agricoles du Canada au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années. Les auteurs passent en revue les contributions importantes du Canada dans ce domaine et les interprètent en regard des nouvelles technologies de concurrence, de même que de la meilleure compréhension des mécanismes de prise de décision chez I'exploitant agricole.     

Dynamic Clusters in Developing Countries: Collective Efficiency and Beyond

The alleged beneficial effects of regional industrial clusters for competitiveness and growth in developing countries have been subject to intensive study. A prominent place in the debate has been occupied by the collective efficiency approach. In this paper we extend that approach by incorporating insights from the literature on firm-level technological learning in development. The resulting framework is applied to the software cluster of Bangalore (India), to illustrate the ways in which spatial proximity of firms and other parties interacts with cluster knowledge creation in a dynamic environment. A number of new insights emerge, including the importance of "old economy" factors such as high demand for innovation, international technology transfer, low wages and strong technology and education institutions. To the extent that "new economy" regional factors also matter, spontaneous agglomeration advantages appear to be important alongside active collective efficiency.     

OECD国家农业支持和政策改革

无论从绝对金额上看还是从单位劳动力或单位面积来观察,OECD国家为其农业部门都提供了巨额的支持和补贴。支持主要是通过一些对生产和贸易有极大扭曲作用的政策措施。从20世纪80年代末期以来,OECD国家进行了各种不同形式的政策改革。但总体上看,改革不仅步伐缓慢,而且效果十分有限。今后,OECD国家应该减少价格干预,采取与生产脱钩、更有效率的措施,对农业政策进行实质性的改革,大幅削减支持水平。     

Market Integration in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Selected Vegetables in Indonesian Markets

Abstract

Market integration has retained and increased in importance in the recent years, particularly in developing countries, where it has potential application to policy questions regarding government intervention in markets. Specifically, it provides evidence of competitiveness of the market, effectiveness of arbitrage and efficiency of pricing. In this study, selected vegetables in Indonesian markets are used as a case study. Indonesia, consisting of 17,000 islands and 182 million people, provides an interesting case study because of the importance of vegetable production and marketing in the rapidly growing economy. The results suggest that none of the markets are segmented. Short- and long-run market integration tests suggest that transportation and product perishability are important in explaining the speed of price transmission. Another important result is that market integration is directional.     

Supply and Marketing Organization for Agricultural Processing in the Developing Countries

In many developing countries the processing of agricultural and fishery products is a major contribution to development. However, projects to set up such enterprises there have often failed. Inadequate attention to arrangements for obtaining raw material and marketing the processed product bears much of the responsibility. The systems used by enterprises that have been successful are examined and the advantages and limitations of alternative forms of enterprise assessed.     

Robust Comparisons of Malnutrition in Developing Countries

We use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to make international and inter–temporal welfare comparisons. While most poverty analyses rely on expenditures or income, we use anthropometric measures of nutrition as indicators of living standards. The advantages are that we observe individual—not household—well–being, deflators and exchange rates are unnecessary, and measurement techniques are similar across surveys. We test the robustness of the headcount results, and find that applying higher order Foster–Greer–Thorbecke poverty measures adds little information; although stochastic dominance testing of nutrition distributions reveals that changes in malnutrition are sensitive to the choice of the "nutrition poverty line."     

Maddening Myths of Agricultural Marketing in Developing Countries

Some officials in developing country governments, development experts, and donor agency representatives adhere to false assumptions about the organization and performance of food systems in developing countries and to preconceptions about the roles of certain participants in the food system. While these views may have at least a partial basis in fact, empirical studies have generally shown that the views are flawed in important respects or not widely applicable. Nevertheless, these preconceptions can be pervasive, often having a negative impact on developing country policies, regulations and programs affecting the food system. The author argues that one important role of food system analysts is to challenge the myths, presenting empirical evidence in concise and skillful fashion to skeptical policy-makers, specialists and donor agency officials.     

加入WTO后中国农业财政投入的变革

入世 3年以来 ,中国的农业财政投入政策发生了重大变化。本文首先回顾了 3年前中国入世承诺中涉及农业财政投入的部分 ,然后对 3年来中国农业财政投入政策的变化情况从“黄箱政策”的调整和“绿箱政策”的利用两个方面进行了回顾和评述 ,最后就下一阶段农业财政投入政策发展方向进行了探讨。