Recessionary period activities in forest sector firms: Impacts on innovativeness

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) provides a unique setting to study innovativeness and customer orientation in forest sector firms. Considerable research has focused generally on innovativeness in forest sector firms, but little attention has been given to the actions of firms to the chaotic market environment during the GFC. Our objective is to clarify how a customer orientation and the practice of developing new markets during a market downturn results in enhanced knowledge-based resources, manifested as increased innovativeness. Our longitudinal design includes data representing 2012 and 2015 from 89, US-based forest sector firms. Responding firms are more focused on process than product innovativeness. During the GFC, responding firms concentrated more on foreign market development than on domestic market development. Firms with a stronger customer orientation in response to the GFC realized higher innovativeness post-GFC. Also, firms actively developing new foreign markets in response to the GFC realized higher process innovativeness. Our results support a stronger customer focus for forest sector firms as it translates to increased innovativeness and potentially improved product development. In addition, allocating resources to foreign market development during financial downturns can be a strategy to build innovativeness.     

Innovation and networks in New Zealand farming

The New Zealand government seeks to dramatically increase the value of agricultural exports while concurrently protecting the natural environment. Thus, farmers are expected to adopt pro‐environmental management practices and novel farm technologies. We show that farmers are more likely to adopt new practices and technologies after seeing them demonstrated, but earlier evidence indicates that demonstration is most effectively undertaken within farmer networks. We use multivariate regression to identify the traits of livestock farmers who are innovative by focusing on adoption of pro‐environmental management practices (managing nutrients, soils and pugging) and novel farm technologies (e.g., windmills, computer‐based management systems, automatic sensors and specialised grasses), considering both numbers adopted and timing. We find that dairy farmers are more innovative than other livestock farmers and that higher education levels and stronger environmental norms within the family are strongly associated with innovativeness. In addition, we find that innovators and early adopters have larger networks than other farmers. Moreover, the composition of these networks is much more varied than the networks of less innovative farmers. These findings imply that innovative farmers in New Zealand may also act as connectors for the diffusion of new ideas in farming.     

Internationalization of innovative capabilities: counter‐evidence from the electronics industry in Malaysia and Brazil

The focus of this paper is the extent to which firms in the electronics industry in Malaysia and Brazil (Manaus) developed significant innovative technological capabilities. By examining whether innovative capabilities have spread to these two late‐industrializing countries, the paper seeks to add new evidence to the debate over internationalization of innovative capabilities and to argue against existing generalizations. Internationalization of innovative capabilities is measured here by the technological capability types and levels built within firms. The framework for capability‐building identifies types and levels of technological capabilities. The paper draws on empirical evidence from 82 electronics firms—transnational corporation subsidiaries and local firms: 53 in Malaysia (25 in Penang and 28 in Klang Valley) and 29 in Manaus (Northern Brazil). Empirical evidence was collected during extensive fieldwork based on different data‐gathering strategies. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were used. Contrary to common generalizations, the study found that the capabilities of most sampled firms had been upgraded to carry out diverse innovative technological activities. Additionally, these capability‐building efforts were strongly associated with higher capabilities for local decision‐making and control, automation level and efforts to increase exports. The study found firms that innovated to be competitive by reducing costs, being more productive, reducing lead time and producing better products—regardless of whether they were in a domestic market‐oriented country or in an export‐oriented country. Finally, the analysis and framework in this study challenge some existing perspectives on the internationalization of innovative capabilities to the late‐industrializing context.     

智力资本对林业企业绩效影响研究

以福建省非上市林业企业为调查对象,通过问卷调查法及结构方程模型进行实证分析,探讨智力资本对林业企业绩效的影响。结果表明:智力资本的3个维度人力、结构、关系资本对林业企业绩效有显著正向影响,其中创新能力在智力资本和林业企业绩效间起部分中介作用。提出改善林业企业绩效的建议为:针对性加大对不同层级人力资本的投入;根据趋势完善结构资本的变革;选择优质的利益相关者开展合作;优化不同层次创新的平衡与落实工作。     

市场导向与政策导向对生物质能源企业绩效影响研究——基于组织学习的中介效应

基于文献分析与推导,立足生物质能源企业微观视角,构建以组织学习为中介变量的概念模型,实证探究了市场导向和政策导向对生物质能源企业绩效的影响。研究发现,市场导向通过组织学习对生物质能源企业绩效产生正向影响,政策导向既可直接也可间接通过组织学习对生物质能源企业绩效产生正向影响。因此,为生物质能源企业经营管理者提出的策略建议是:培育市场化,重视市场导向与组织学习的结合;加深政策变革感知,全面响应政策导向和加强组织学习能力的培养。     

An analysis of bundle pricing in horizontal and vertical markets: The case of the U.S. cottonseed market

The U.S. cottonseed market has seen the rapid development and adoption of seeds with differing bundles of genetically modified (GM) traits. It has also seen an increase in vertical integration by biotechnology firms. In this article, we investigate the price impacts associated with structural changes in the U.S. cottonseed market from 2002 to 2007. We develop a structural model to examine the substitution/complementarity relationships among cottonseeds sold with different genetic trait bundles and under different vertical arrangements. We examine the price impacts emanating from product differentiation, market concentration, and market size. The econometric investigation finds evidence of subadditive bundle pricing in patented biotech traits. While higher own‐market concentrations are found to be associated with higher prices, we also uncover evidence of cross‐product complementarity effects that lead to lower prices. Simulations are used to evaluate net price effects, illustrating the usefulness of the approach in the analysis of changing market structures.     

Efficiency of Cooperatives and Investor Owned Firms Revisited

The objectives of dairy processing cooperatives differ from those of investor‐owned firms (IOFs). However, the literature usually assumes the same performance measures for cooperatives vis‐a‐vis IOFs. This study compares the performance of dairy cooperatives and IOFs in major European dairy producing countries. A traditional input oriented approach is used and two alternative approaches are used to account for the differential objectives of cooperatives. Cooperatives’ performance differs across the two approaches from being outperformed by IOFs using the input oriented approach to outperforming them when using an approach that is more in line with cooperatives’ objectives.     

我国高纬度地区发展柞蚕产业的资源潜力与可行对策

面对国际、国内两个市场今后长时期对柞蚕业商品的需求,人们把目光投向高纬度地区巨大的柞蚕业发展潜力上,包括自然资源、科技资源与其他社会经济资源,认为,只要科学规划,创新管理体制,选准技术突破口,通过选点示范、全区联动的方式,就完全可能走出一条与传统柞蚕区不同的柞蚕业健康发展新路,未来10年再造一个中国柞蚕产业。     

Selfishness,altruism, and inequality aversion toward consumers and farmers

One hypothesis explaining the persistence of farm programs in the United States is the public's altruism toward farmers. We utilize economic experiments to identify the motivations of selfishness, altruism, and inequality aversion toward anonymous members of the general population and toward different types of farmers. We find that people are generally less selfish and more altruistic toward small farmers than other members of the population. We also find that (i) people are more averse to inequality in a market‐like setting as compared to a nonmarket setting, (ii) there is significant heterogeneity across people in terms of other‐regarding preferences, and (iii) experimental choices accurately predict preferences for “real‐world” income re‐distribution policies that entail giving up one's own money to benefit farmers, but fail to predict preferences for policies that redistribute others’ incomes.     

What drives stock market integration? An analysis using agribusiness stocks

This article explores the drivers of regional stock market integration with a focus on the agribusiness sector across relevant regional trade blocs around the world. We implement panel cointegration models to analyze the stock indices of agribusiness firms in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), European Union (EU), Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Based on the literature on market integration and stock return pricing, we identify nine possible determinants of stock market integration, which we separate into three categories: individual market performance, macroeconomic conditions, and agricultural trade. In our analysis, we account for agriculture‐specific factors to control for possible structural shifts in financial markets regimes by including the two main commodity price bubbles during last 20 years. Our results show that most of the variables included in our categories have been important factors in promoting regional stock market integration. Moreover, integration among regional stock markets was strengthened by the implementation of trade agreements. This effect is stronger in trade blocs with fewer members, such as NAFTA and MERCOSUR, compared with larger and more heterogeneous blocs, such as the EU and APEC.     

Agribusiness,Peasant Agriculture and Labour Markets: Ecuador in Comparative Perspective

The consolidation of capitalist agriculture in countries such as Ecuador has led to a recent revaluation of territories (central highlands) where cheap labour has facilitated agribusiness development linked to the world market. This process generates growth in the numbers of rural wage workers and the creation of a labour market that, in relation to others in several Latin American countries, has certain particularities: permanent jobs, gender balance, an absence of intermediaries and low levels of precariousness. Small‐scale peasant producers are marginalized in this context and play functional roles within the current dynamics of agribusiness firms. The organizational weakness of rural wage earners and the pursuit of clientelist relationships by firms do not allow rural workers and local communities to devise economic and social strategies that might improve their position in this ‘field of forces’ in the territory.     

The impact of decoupled subsidies on productivity in agriculture: a cross‐country analysis using microdata

The decoupling of direct payments from production introduced in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy is expected to make production decisions more market‐oriented and farmers more productive. However, ex‐post analyses of the productivity of farms have yet to uncover any evidence of a positive impact of the decoupling policy on farm productivity. Using Irish, Danish, and Dutch farm‐level data, we identify whether the decoupling policy has contributed to productivity growth in agriculture and farm product adjustment behavior. We find some evidence that the decoupling policy had significant positive effects on farm productivity and behavioral changes related to farm specialization.     

Multinationals vs. Cooperatives: The Income and Efficiency Effects of Supply Chain Governance in India

The impact of multinational firms on the domestic agricultural sector in developing countries is controversial, in particular in India. Relying on a unique set of household‐level data from the state of Punjab, we study the biggest dairy company in the world (Nestlé) in India and compare its vertical spillover effects on upstream suppliers to other market channels (informal sector and cooperatives). We find that farmers that supply informal channels are less efficient and earn lower profits per dairy animal than farmers supplying the cooperative and the multinational sector. Furthermore, we find that farmers using the multinational channel are more efficient than farmers in the cooperative channel, but equally profitable. Hence, we do not find that supplying the cooperative channel is more beneficial for local dairy farmers than supplying the multinational channel. Overall, however, dairy productivity and profitability levels are still dramatically low, with substantial scope for dairy development.     

A Quantile Regression Analysis of the Effect of Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions on Market Participation

The objective of this study is to investigate the subjective determinants of farmers’ participation in output markets in five EU New Member States (NMS) characterised by large semi‐subsistence sectors. It employs quantile regression to model market participation reflecting the heterogeneity amongst farmers. The study also uses the Bayesian adaptive lasso to simultaneously select important covariates and estimate the corresponding quantile regression models. The empirical results show that only two variables affect all quantiles, while their effect varies across quantiles. Some of the remaining variables affect the share of output sold at the lower quantiles (i.e. for subsistence‐ and semi‐subsistence‐oriented farmers) only, whereas other variables are only significant at the upper quantiles (i.e. for more commercially oriented farms). Advisory services, and particularly agricultural business advice, and information and advice on markets and prices can facilitate the market participation of subsistence‐oriented farms.     

Selling at the Farmgate or Traveling to Market

Using detailed survey data from Uganda, this article examines whether coffee producers sell to itinerant traders or directly to markets, where they can get a higher price but must incur a transport cost. We find that selling to the market is more likely when the quantity sold is large and the market is close by. Wealthy farmers are less likely to sell to the market, possibly because the shadow value of their time is higher. But if they have a large quantity of coffee for sale, they are more likely to sell it to the market. They are also more likely to travel to a distant market. These findings are consistent with their better ability to pay for public transportation. We find no evidence that the decision to sell at the farmgate is driven by a self-control motive.     

Imported Intermediate Inputs and Firms’ Productivity Growth: Evidence from the Food Industry

Imported goods play a central role in determining the gains from trade. Using detailed trade and firm‐level data for Italy and France, we investigate the relationship between trade integration, imported intermediate inputs and firm performance in the food industry. Our main findings show that an increase in import competition spurs firm‐level productivity growth. Furthermore, the productivity growth effect attributable to imported intermediate inputs is significantly stronger than the effect due to imported final products. In addition, we find that new imported inputs are of particular importance, especially for Italian food firms, though less so for the French firms. Finally, the productivity growth effect of trade integration tends to be asymmetric across firms: more productive firms gain more from trade integration. These stylised facts have interesting policy implications.     

Price Discrimination in Russian Wheat Exports: Evidence from Firm‐level Data

Russia emerged as an important wheat exporter in recent years raising the question of how this will affect international wheat markets. In particular developing countries – the main destination of Russian wheat exports – could be harmed by aggressive pricing behaviour. This article analyses the exertion of price discrimination by Russian wheat exporting firms based on Krugman's pricing‐to‐market hypothesis. We apply Knetter's panel model to a firm‐level dataset and find evidence for price‐discriminating behaviour by Russian firms in 25 out of 61 destination countries over the period 2002–2011.     

Modeling agricultural innovation in a rapidly developing country: the case of Chinese pesticide industry

Technology and innovation play an increasingly important role in the economic development of both developed and developing countries. We investigate how policy and market factors influence firms’ (or other potential inventors’) decisions on innovation or imitation by developing a model that emphasizes expected market size, appropriability and technological opportunity. We empirically test the model using provincial pesticide innovation data from a rapidly developing country, China. We find that the government encouraged local innovation by opening regions to more international trade, by increasing investments in public research and education, and by strengthening intellectual property right (IPR) enforcement to meet its WTO TRIPS obligations. Moreover, while IPR enforcement and increases in market size are important in encouraging innovation, empirical evidence is mixed as inventors respond to these factors differently. Policies to increase expected market size could increase copying rather than inducing R&D investments, and extended patent life may reinforce the original standing of infringers as well as inventors.     

Do subsidies cause a less competitive milk market in China?

After 2008, China dairy industry has experienced a consolidation supported by the government mainly for the reason of food safety. Subsidies are one of the tools to shape a concentrated market with goals of reducing regulation cost and accomplishing quality control. This gives a serious concern that subsidies would generate a less competitive dairy industry. We construct a parametric model and use the firm‐level panel data, specifically the top eight dairy firms, to test if government subsidies strengthen the market power in the dairy industry. Our empirical results indicate government subsidies have a negative impact on the Lerner index for the top privately owned firms, but no significant effect on state‐controlled ones after controlling for advertising, time trend, and proprietorship. It is possible that the subsidies give more room for private firms to increase the scale or suppress the price, which eventually reduces the market power and benefits dairy customers in the downstream.     

Threshold cointegration and spatial price transmission when expectations matter

We examine the performance of the threshold cointegration approach, specifically Band‐TVECM, to price transmission analysis in an explicit context where trade decisions are made based on expectation of final prices, because trade takes time. We find that, following a standard inference strategy, a large portion of three‐regime cases are not identified as such. Results show that transfer costs are systematically underestimated, particularly in three‐regime models. The speed of price transmission is also biased in three‐regime models. Furthermore, inferences about occurrence of trade are poor, with estimated models suggesting far lower market integration than is true in the data‐generating process.