The Pricing of Experience Goods: The Example of en primeur Wine

The market for "primeur" wine in the Bordeaux region allows producers to sell wine that is still in barrels. As with all experience goods, producers send quality signals to uninformed buyers. Using original data on Bordeaux wines, we show that the pricing behavior of producers depends to a large extent on their reputation, and much less on short-term changes in quality (as measured by experts' grades). We also find that the primeur price has an informative role, since a 10% increase in primeur price leads to a 3% increase in prices on the market for bottled wine.     

Option Contracts as a Solution to the Holdup Problem in Agri-food Markets

It is well known that incomplete contracts, together with asset specific investment, can result in investment holdup because of opportunistic behavior by either the commodity producer or the processor. In recent years, several papers have shown how contracts which explicitly account for ex post renegotiation can reduce or eliminate the holdup problem. In one particularly promising type of analysis, a simple option contract is awarded to the upstream producer. In this paper, it is shown that if the source of risk is with respect to the value of the processed commodity, then a producer option contract does not work but a processor option contract does work to eliminate the holdup problem. A simple example is used to illustrate the main findings.     

Label Style and Color Contribution to Explain Market Price Difference in Italian Red Wines Sold in the Chinese Wine Market

This study employs a hedonic price methodology to investigate the implicit price of individual labelling characteristics of Italian red wines sold in the Chinese market. Our results highlight the most important quality attributes (extrinsic and intrinsic) given in the label capable to explain price difference. In particular, reveal significant premium price for wine origin, identified in particular through the DOC/DOCG appellation given in the label, and for clean labels or labels with particular designs. On the contrary, a price discount has been revealed for Italian wines produced with local grape varieties and with a label characterised by warm colors. These results, partly in disagreement with other empirical evidence, contribute to enrich the existing literature in this field by providing useful suggestions both to the producers and other stakeholders operating in the wine industry.     

Protecting Quality of Wine Exports to China: Barriers and Bridges

There is a great potential for wine to deteriorate during shipment and storage of wines being exported from the United States to China. Certification of storage conditions such as that provided by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) is a key bridge to protecting quality and maintaining value in the auction market there. A literature review and semistructured interviews with winery managers, freight forwarders, transportation experts, and representatives of HKQAA provide qualitative analysis of barriers and bridges to protecting quality. The article presents a strong case for the adoption of storage and transportation standards for wine, such as the Wine Storage Management System implemented by HKQAA. Looking at wine exports through the lens of Total Quality Management provides the basis for recommending formal certification.     

The Influence of Consumer Involvement in Wine Consumption-Elicited Emotions

There is scarce research on the influence of the level of consumer involvement with wine and consumption-elicited emotions. In this context, we aim to examine whether the level of wine involvement influences the emotional response; and further, whether the level of wine involvement plays a determining role in how emotions drive satisfaction. The study involved a convenience sample through a restaurant and bar intercept survey conducted in La Rioja (Spain). Subsequently, three levels of consumer involvement with wine were examined: low (n?=?316), medium (n?=?387) and highly involved consumers (n?=?462). Then, data were analyzed through structural equation modelling (SEM). Our findings indicate that differing levels of consumer involvement with wine lead to different emotions and satisfaction. Further, consumers should surpass an “involvement threshold” in order to develop a negative emotional appraisal and to provoke negative affect towards wine; but this “involvement threshold” does not apply to the development of pleasant emotions.     

乡村善治可持续的路径探索与理论启示:来自“枫桥经验”的思考

乡村何以善治是新时代乡村治理研究的核心问题。研究这一问题需要从历史经验中寻找答案。“枫桥经验”是中国乡村善治的典范和旗帜。回顾“枫桥经验”的历史演进,发现了“枫桥经验”历久弥新的密码,找到了一条乡村善治可持续的重要路径。要始终坚持治理体系和治理能力现代化;始终坚持党的领导、政府负责、社会协同和群众参与;始终坚持自治、法治和德治有机结合;始终坚持创新发展制度体制机制。乡村善治还需要学界更关切中国情境、中国特色,以巨大的理论勇气提出彰显中国特色的乡村治理理论构念和理论体系。研究贡献在于,以治理现代化为视角,回答了乡村善治如何可持续的问题。     

Geographical Indications and the Competitive Provision of Quality in Agricultural Markets

The economics of geographical indications (GIs) is assessed within a vertical product differentiation framework that is consistent with the competitive structure of agriculture. It is assumed that certification costs are needed for GIs to serve as (collective) credible quality certification devices, and production of high-quality product is endogenously determined. We find that GIs can support a competitive provision of quality and lead to clear welfare gains, although they fall short of delivering the (constrained) first best. The main beneficiaries are consumers. Producers may also accrue some benefit if production of the high-quality products draws on scarce factors that they own.     

Assessing the Vulnerability to Price Spikes in Agricultural Commodity Markets

We examine empirically the predictability of conditions associated with a higher probability of a price spike in agricultural commodity markets. We find that the forward spread is the most significant indicator of probable price jumps in maize, wheat and soybeans futures markets, a result which is in line with the ‘Theory of Storage’. We additionally show that some option-implied variables add significant predictive power when added to the more standard information variable set. Overall, the estimated probabilities of large price increases from our probit models exhibit significant correlations with historical sudden market upheavals in agricultural markets.     

现阶段我国社会矛盾演变趋势及法治化解决机制研究

当前我国各种社会矛盾频发,给和谐社会构建带来严峻挑战。正确认识和处理转型发展阶段的社会矛盾,是关系改革发展稳定的全局性课题。法治是解决中国社会现实矛盾、维护社会秩序的有效手段。良法善治是现代法治的本质,为解决社会矛盾提供规则体系和制度保障。据此,建立有利于维护社会稳定和解决社会矛盾的法治机制,是对现阶段正确处理社会矛盾作出的理性选择。     

An Exploratory Study of the Factors Enhancing and Inhibiting Export Growth in the Chilean Wine Industry

This exploratory study investigates the main drivers that enhance and inhibit the export performance of Chilean wineries. The findings of this study suggest that the main constraints within the Chilean wineries in developing exports is the lack of financial resources, limited quantities of stocks for market expansion, management's lack of knowledge and experience, and the high cost of traveling and participating in trade shows. The main drivers of wine export performance according to the respondents are high quality of the wines, well-established network of international distributors, and marketing skills. The major inhibitors of developing wine exports are exchange rate variability, problems in selecting a reliable international distributor, and limited government support to promote wine exports. This study also shows that export managers of Chilean wineries have high educational levels and have international experience. The findings have important implications for export development efforts of both governments and managers.     

基于改进层次分析法的哈尔滨市地下水水质影响因素分析

本文利用改进的积因子层次分析方法--积因子位次赋值数据求权重法,对哈尔滨市辖区的地下水水质的各种影响因素进行了定量的分析,并将影响水质的各种因素以及19个地区的地下水污染程度进行了排序,研究结果表明利用该方法计算得出的排序结果与实际情况比较吻合。     

Private land use for public housing projects: The Influence of a Government Announcement on Housing Markets in Hong Kong

Insufficient land supply and housing shortage limit the development in Hong Kong. To tackle such obstacles, the Hong Kong government launched a new housing initiative in June 2018, that is, to reallocate private housing sites for public housing in East Kowloon. Yet, the initiative may give rise to two important questions: (1) how does this initiative affect the housing searching behaviour in the housing market; and (2) in what way should the new public housing be developed, if it is to be compatible with the host neighborhood - by the public sector, or with the participation of the private sector. Little is known about the possible impacts of such an initiative.To fill this research gap, this paper adopts an improved spatial econometric model by incorporating spatial and temporal information to explore the above two questions. Our results indicate that (1) the announcement of the initiative leads to a 5% change in time-on-market for private housing in East Kowloon; (2) people in private property prefer more to live near public housing developed by the private sector. These findings somehow echo the invasion theory of urban change: Neighborhood changes in private housing areas will spill-over to adjacent urban areas.     

泰兴市用地难题破解路径探析

泰兴市土地利用中存在着用地供需矛盾大、土地利用效率低、占补平衡资源少、存量盘活成本高、违法用地控制难等问题。破解泰兴市用地难题的路径:(1)加强规划引导,以管控促集约保发展;(2)加强土地整理,重点做好城乡建设用地增减挂钩工作、"万顷良田建设工程"和耕地占补平衡项目;(3)加快土地市场体系建设,以市场提效率促集约保发展;(4)建立健全节约集约评估机制,出台奖励措施,全面盘活存量土地,整体联动推进节约集约用地;(5)加强执法监察,全面落实园区、乡镇的土地管理责任,联席会议、联动执法、联合督办,积极构建违法用地防控体系。     

Politics, Economics, and the Regulation of Direct Interstate Shipping in the Wine Industry

In 1986, California passed legislation restricting the direct importation of wine from another state by California residents unless the originating state allowed direct shipment from California wineries to residents in that state. The result has been a patchwork of direct shipment regulations across states. We examine how various economic and public interest factors affect the likelihood that a state adopts a change in its direct shipment regulation and the nature of that change. Our results suggest that private and public sector economic considerations lie at the root of direct shipment regulations in the wine industry.     

常温储藏对6种优质稻谷品质的影响

以常温储藏1年及未储藏的甬优9号、甬优12号、甬优15号、甬优1540、秀水134、嘉花1号为研究对象,对其进行新鲜度、脂肪酸值、食味品质、发芽率等储藏指标分析.结果表明,在稻谷水分为11.8％～13.4％的条件下,2017年收获的优质稻谷常温储藏1年后与2018年收获的相同品种优质稻谷比较,其新鲜度、食味品质、发芽率...     

Using Ex Ante Approaches to Obtain Credible Signals for Value in Contingent Markets: Evidence from the Field

While contingent valuation remains the only option available for measurement of total economic value of nonmarketed goods, the method has been criticized due to its hypothetical nature. We analyze field experimental data to evaluate two ex ante approaches to attenuating hypothetical bias, directly comparing value statements across four distinct referenda: hypothetical, "cheap talk,""consequential," and real. Our empirical evidence suggests two major findings: hypothetical responses are significantly different from real responses; and responses in the consequential and cheap talk treatments are statistically indistinguishable from real responses. We review the potential for each method to produce reliable results in the field.     

国外水利建设投入机制及其对我国的启示

分析国外发达国家公共财政水利建设投入机制的经验,从政府财政投入、合理区分投资类别、投资方向与国民经济发展协调一致、水利投融资体系多元化发展、管理收费呈多样化发展几方面提出对我国水利建设的启示。     

Progress in indicators to assess agricultural landscape valuation: how and what is measured at different levels of governance

Landscape is defined by the European Landscape Convention as “an area perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors”. Many efforts have been devoted in addressing the core concepts on which this definition roots: perception and interaction of men and nature, but when coming to large (continental) scale assessments, the latter prevail on the former.This paper aims at presenting a framework for a measurable landscape awareness indicator as a key link to the public demand for a specific type of landscape: the agricultural landscape. This is a necessary effort to complement more physically based assessments, which include as well the impact of human activities on landscapes.The analysis is carried out at different levels of governance: EU and regional, using an example from the Alentejo region in Portugal and EU wide databases, and addresses conceptual and practical questions: what type of societal landscape awareness can be monitored and by whom (e.g., individuals, specific social groups, society as a whole); what are the landscape dimensions that should be assessed; what are the limitations imposed by data-related constraints. By applying the methodology to build composite indicators to map landscape societal awareness, the paper shows the regional and local meaning of indicator approaches developed at European level, presents developments for downscaling to regional level, while introducing the social component to support sound policy development for European rural landscapes.     

The Role of Index Trading in Price Formation in the Grains and Oilseeds Markets

We use both Granger‐causality and instrumental variables (IV) methods to examine the impact of index fund positions on price returns for the main US grains and oilseed futures markets. Our analysis supports earlier conclusions that Granger‐causal impacts are generally not discernible. However, market microstructure theory suggests trading impacts should be instantaneous. IV‐based tests for contemporaneous causality provide stronger evidence of price impact. We find even stronger evidence that changes in index positions can help predict future changes in aggregate commodity price indices. This result suggests that changes in index investment are in part driven by information which predicts commodity price changes over the coming months.     

Assessing the returns to R&D on perennial crops: the costs and benefits of Pierce's disease research in the California winegrape industry

Several complicating issues arise in evaluating the returns to research into varietal improvements for perennial crops compared with annual crops. We elucidate and address these issues in the context of a case study of research aiming to develop varieties that are resistant to Pierce's disease (PD) of grapevines. PD imposes costs of over $100 million per year on the California grape industry, even with public PD control programs in place. Research projects to develop PD resistant varieties of grapevines are at various stages of completion. We describe the economic problems posed by PD, document the research programs undertaken to address the disease and present an economic assessment of the returns to the investment, which are conditional on other policies. Using a simulation model of the market for California winegrapes, we estimate the benefits from research, development and adoption of PD‐resistant vines as ranging from $4 million to $129 million annually over a 50‐year horizon, depending on the length of the R&D lag and the rate of adoption. In addition to these specific quantitative results the paper offers insight into the broader question of economic evaluation of damage‐mitigation technology for perennial crops.