Crop Selection and Implications for Profits and Wind Erosion in a Semi-Arid Environment

A daily crop growth simulation model was applied to four dryland cropping systems to estimate the profit distributions for each of four price series under stochastic weather conditions on the Southern High Plains of Texas. Stochastic dominance with respect to a function was utilized to rank each crop rotation for different risk-averse intervals. Solutions from the model indicate that long-term average annual soil loss due to wind erosion was a function of the producer's risk aversion, price expectation, and discount rate which affect the optimal crop rotation selection.     

Irrigation technology adoption and its implication for water conservation in the Texas High Plains: a real options approach

Water shortage has been a significant issue for several decades in the Texas High Plains. Agriculture has been identified as the main activity contributing to this shortage. To address this issue, many efforts have been focused on the possible adoption of sophisticated irrigation systems with high levels of water application efficiency. In this study, the entry and exit thresholds for the low‐energy precision application (LEPA) system are analyzed simultaneously in cotton farming in the Texas High Plains using a real options approach. The results show that the LEPA system is profitable only when cotton price is set above $1.59/kg. The exit (entry) threshold is consistently low (high) over a range of values for parameter changes including investment cost, exit cost, variable cost, risk‐adjusted discount rate, and volatility rate, so it is unlikely that farmers with irrigation systems in place would leave them easily. This implies that to attain the goal of saving water, Lubbock County needs to focus on convincing current farmers to replace old irrigation systems with new ones.     

Standardized Performance Analysis: An Application to the Texas High Plains

The Standardized Performance Analysis method was used to complete a whole-farm financial analysis and crop enterprise financial and production analysis of a farming operation in the Texas High Plains for three years of crop production. The Standardized Performance Analysis procedure is described and illustrated for an individual farming operation in addition to a regional level analysis.     

Improved Prospects for Rural Development: An Industrial Targeting System for the Great Plains

This research introduces an industrial targeting system intended to improve local decision making related to selection of targets for business recruitment. The Plains Economic Targeting System (PETS) consists of a series of econometric equations that match industry input and market requirements with community characteristics to generate a probability of new business location over a given time period. The system matches location requirements for 78 industry sectors to local characteristics for 414 counties in six Great Plains states. Further, the coefficients generated for a given county are transformed into marginal impacts, providing important information relating to local policies that can improve the probability of attracting a given industry.     

南方集体林区林业产业发展水平综合评价与分析

针对南方集体林区林业产业发展不平衡的现状,对集体林区林业产业发展水平和发展现状进行了全面综合的测度与评价,结果表明:从集体林区平均水平来看,林业产业产值对GDP的贡献率约为10.0%;集体林区正经历着林业产业结构的转型,可分为3个阶段:2008年之前为一个阶段,2008~2011年之间为一个阶段,2011年至未来某一年为另一个阶段;广东省第三产业增长弹性系数较高,林业发展速度较快;福建省林业产业工业化水平最高;浙江省林业人均创造价值最高,林业生产效率较高;湖北省经济林产业在集体林区中占据重要地位,2012年增加值占集体林区总增加值的19.3%;集体林区木材加工及制造业发展迅速,2011年增加值占中国总增加值的47.6%,但2012年下降幅度较大;广东省林业旅游与休闲产业总收入占集体林区总收入的40.2%,较大幅度领先于其它省份。     

亚热带山地可持续农业生态-经济带划分

我国亚热带具有特殊的自然环境与农业生产条件,其农业生态一经济带系统与配置格局受到该地带植被生态学特点的制约。文章对我国亚热带山地进行了生态一经济带划分,设计不同地理单元上农业生态景观的优化配置,弥补农业生态系统结构简单造成的生物地化循环不完善,以形成更好的生物一环境关系。     

对外开放、产业结构与中国森林公园旅游效率

借助DEA方法对2008~2014年中国大陆31个省份的森林公园旅游效率进行测算,并且采用Tobit模型重点研究对外开放、产业结构对中国森林公园旅游效率的影响。研究发现:中国森林公园旅游效率总体较高,但是省域之间差别较大;对外开放程度对中国森林公园旅游效率具有倒U型的显著影响,即对外开放程度对于森林公园旅游效率的边际贡献存在递减效应;产业结构(第一产业比例)对中国森林公园旅游资源利用效率具有显著的负向影响,即产业结构高级化成为推动旅游效率改善的内在因素。森林公园密度、城市人口密度对中国森林公园旅游效率具有显著地正向影响;南方林区与西南林区相对于华北林区来说,优越的地理条件更容易提高森林公园旅游资源的利用效率。基于研究提出开放程度较低的地区需要积极扩大对外开放水平;加速产业结构调整,推动产业结构合理化,以期带动森林公园旅游资源的利用效率。     

中原城市群产业、人口与土地非农化时空耦合协调性研究

［目的］研判中原城市群城市化发展中产业非农化、人口与城市化土地非农化等多要素之间的耦合协调性与时空演变特征,为中原城市群健康发展提供参考和依据。［方法］文章利用耦合协调度模型、ArcGis空间分析,基于2006—2016年研究时段,评价中原城市群产业、人口与土地非农化的沟壑协调性。［结果］（1）从时序特征看,中原城市群人口、产业和土地非农化之间的耦合协调度呈总体下降、过程波动的变化趋势,其中2006年、2011年和2016年的耦合协调度分别为057、053和055,处于中度耦合协调阶段。（2）从空间特征看,中原城市群产业、人口与土地非农化的耦合协调性空间格局经历了由环形到“T”字型再逐渐形成“三点”式的分布特征,空间差异明显。［结论］中原城市群健康发展应强化城市协同发展,增强引领示范作用; 增强自主发展能力,缩小区域发展差距; 优化产业空间格局,推动城市全面发展是未来城市化协调发展的启示。     

海南省最优森林生态规划研究

在对国内外生态规划研究综述的基础上,通过对海南省最优森林生态规划的研究指出:要使海南省林地、林木和森林环境服务的效益最大,必须调整用材林、防护林、特用林和竹林的面积比例。海南省不同林种林地合理使用的平均影子价格为2512.46元/hm2,特用林的最优估价为4376.04元/hm2。建议,海南省应减少用材林面积的比例,增加防护林面积的比例,围绕生态省的建设,狠抓林种结构调整,使不同林种比例结构适合生态省建设的需要。同时,要注重林业产业结构的调整,使林业生产主要由单一热带作物生产转移到多种林产品生产和服务上来,注重林业优势产业的发展。     

Measuring the Impact of Meat Packing and Processing Facilities in Nonmetropolitan Counties: A Difference-in-Differences Approach

Considerable controversy exists regarding the costs and benefits of growth in the meat packing and processing industry for rural counties. This study investigates the effects of this industry on social and economic outcomes in nonmetropolitan counties of 23 Midwestern and Southern states from 1990 to 2000. Results suggest that as the meat packing industry's share of a county's total employment and wage bill rises, total employment growth increases. However, employment growth in other sectors slows, as does local wage growth. Industry growth has little impact on local crime rates or on growth of government spending on education, health, or police protection.     

Peer effects in the diffusion of water‐saving agricultural technologies

We investigate the role of peer effects in the diffusion of an important water‐saving irrigation technology: low energy precise application (LEPA). Using detailed irrigation behavior data for growers in the High Plains Aquifer region of Kansas covering 1990–2014, we find clear evidence of peer influence in adoption of LEPA, net of environmental factors. Specifically, an additional neighboring LEPA installation within 1 km increases the probability of adoption by about 0.3 percentage points, on average, and this effect diminishes with distance. Our empirical estimates indicate that in the absence of peer effects, LEPA adoption would have been about 10% lower (1,000–1,600 fewer installations) per year. In addition, we find that growers install LEPA in response to higher energy prices.     

Farmers’ perception of their decision-making in relation to policy schemes: A comparison of case studies from Switzerland and the United States

Farmers are decision-makers in a complex system of cause and effect. They decide with respect to their own attitude and beliefs, according to their farm structure and they take into account programs and regulations of the overarching policy scheme. In this paper we used mail surveys with identical questions to establish a cross-national comparison of two case study areas. The questionnaire investigates farmer's perspectives on what influences their own decision-making as well as their perception of the socio-ecological environment to relate these findings to the respective policy schemes in the case study areas. The two case studies are located in Southern Illinois, United States and in central Switzerland. The analysis shows that full-time farmers of the Southern Illinois case study area rate constraining factors such as financial aspects higher than Southern Illinois part-time farmers and farmers from the central Switzerland case study area. Furthermore, it is apparent that Swiss case study-farmers rate aspects of their land use responsibility and the Illinois case study-farmers rate ecological aspects higher. The empirical findings can be qualitatively explained through analysis of agricultural policy schemes.     

The economics of on-farm processing: model development and an empirical analysis

Recent trends in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy suggest an increasing attention towards rural development issues. On-farm processing may offer an alternative for diversification, income generation and rural development in the event of increasingly deregulated agricultural markets. In this study, the economics of on-farm processing for the case of the Swedish potato industry is examined. An interregional partial equilibrium model is developed. Various stages of the potato marketing chain are explicitly modelled. It is empirically demonstrated that, in some regions, on-farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Furthermore, it is shown that on-farm processors are more robust towards import competition than bulk product producers. Hence, the results support the notion that small scale processing may contribute towards satisfying some of the objectives of an effective rural development agenda.     

国有森工企业资本结构优化实证研究

以国有森工企业为研究对象,分析森工企业资本结构的现状及问题,运用主成分分析和回归分析的方法,构建国有森工企业资本结构优化模型。通过实证分析表明,充分利用国有森工企业的天然优势,大力整合林业产业链,以林地、林业资产等为抵押物,拓展拓宽林业资本融资渠道,提升企业成长性,增强盈利性是优化森工企业资本结构的有效途径。     

Economies of scale in the Swedish sawmill industry

In this study, scale elasticity and optimal size of the Swedish sawmill industry is investigated. An input distance function is used to compute scale elasticity. The result of the study shows that the average scale elasticity is above 1, indicating existence of economies of scale in the industry. By comparing the size of the average input - output vectors with the inefficiency adjusted input vector and the output vector for scale efficient units, we could see that, in general, there are gains to be made by expansion. However, some units may gain from becoming smaller.     

世界主要地区矿业税费研究

文章对北美、拉丁美洲、非洲、大洋洲和印度次大陆五个世界上重要的矿业资源与矿业开发区开展了矿业税费研究,对矿业税费结构、税费率、税费抵扣与补贴、矿业有效税率,以及税费与矿业可持续发展的关系进行了分析。研究结果显示,北美和拉丁美洲为全球的低矿业税费区,大洋洲与非洲为较高税费区,印度次大陆为高税费区。研究结果表明,矿业税费的设计应以平衡利润在政府与企业间的优化分配为目标,既要保持政府的合理收入,又要满足企业经济活力的需要,以达到为国家经济可持续发展提供矿产资源和矿物原材料保障的目的。     

The Role of Speculation and Information in the Early Evolution of the United States Ostrich Industry: An Industry Case Study

The U.S. ostrich industry was introduced in the 1980s and experienced rapid expansion in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Breeding stock prices rose rapidly and subsequently plummeted during 1993–1995. High prices are to be expected in the introductory stage of an industry. However, the magnitude of prices in the ostrich industry is likely due to overestimates of ostrich productivity and future demand for ostrich products, as well as speculation in the ostrich market. This paper discusses the evolution of the industry from the mid-1980s to the present.     

河北省林果产业发展状况及增收潜力分析

通过对河北林果重点县进行典型调查和42个县(市、区)、4200个农户林果产业收入的专项调查,指出河北林果产业发展势头强劲,果品结构调整步伐加快,林板加工业快速发展,社会化服务体系初步形成。在了解其林果产业发展状况的基础上,分析了林果业对农民收入贡献情况,指出林果业收入构成日趋多样化,收入结构有所优化;工资性收入快速增长,增收空间得到扩展;受林业生产任务调整的影响,林业纯收入下降幅度较大。林果业增收面临的主要制约因素是资源禀赋差异、产业化经营规模、林果产品外向度、政策调整约束等。林果业增收潜力极大,表现在政策、技术支持力度不断加大,林果优势产业带形成,质量品牌意识不断增强,市场需求量增大。     

基于遥感数据的郑州市植被覆盖度变化研究

植被覆盖度是衡量某一地区植被覆盖状况的指标,某一地区的植被覆盖状况会直接影响到该地区的土壤、水分和气候等自然环境要素。随着中原经济区的快速发展,郑州市作为中原经济区的增长极,发展速度很快,城市扩张迅速。为了研究郑州市的快速发展给生态环境带来的影响,选取植被覆盖度这一指标为研究对象,利用不同时间阶段的遥感影像估算郑州市不同时期的植被覆盖度,通过分析植被覆盖度变化来研究郑州市的快速增长对植被覆盖度造成的影响。结论如下:(1)2000年郑州市的植被覆盖度主要以低植被覆盖为主,2014年以中低植被覆盖度为主,高植被和较高植被覆盖度略有提高;(2)从植被覆盖度变化来看,2000—2014年整个研究区植被覆盖度主要以轻微增加为主。