Impacts of capital and land constraints on the economics of new livestock technology in western Kenya

The introduction of new forages and milk marketing improvements was projected to permit even the smallest modeled farms in a western Kenya region to adopt dual-purpose goats and thereby improve family income and nutrition. Expanded credit permitted modeled medium and large farms, especially, to vigorously exploit these innovations; credit also expanded income more than did goat management improvements. Because credit, extension assistance, marketing improvements, and new forages will leave projected incomes of small farmers below those of medium and large farmers in the study region, development of off-farm jobs may still be necessary to supplement the incomes of this fast growing group. The marginal value of capital for medium and large farmers with new livestock technology was high. This suggests that government-subsidized credit might be unnecessary. With proper infrastructural and legal support, private capital markets might develop as new livestock technology and marketing improvements expand the demand for borrowing.     

基于SWOT分析的五台县红色旅游开发对策研究

作为世界文化遗产、四大佛教名山之首五台山所在地,山西省五台县宗教旅游发展相对成熟,而红色旅游发展却相对滞后,存在一些亟待解决的问题,经过实地调研和问卷调查,运用SWOT方法分析总结出了发展五台县红色旅游的优势、劣势、机遇和威胁,并在此基础上有针对性地提出了相关开发对策,以期为五台县红色旅游的发展提供一些参考和借鉴。     

Evolving Producer–Packer–Customer Linkages in the Beef and Pork Industries

The U.S. pork and beef sectors are rapidly moving from traditional cash markets to formal vertical linkages. In 1999, 27% of hogs and 65% of cattle were traded in the cash market and packers owned 18% of hogs and 5% of cattle; the rest were procured via marketing contracts. Contrary to popular opinion that plant efficiency is the impetus for the change, packers clearly identified quality concerns as the dominant reason for using marketing contracts or self-production. Quality standards and procurement systems to achieve them will increase in importance with the introduction of more branded pork and beef products.     

Agricultural Marketing in Belgium and the Netherlands

Agriculture in Belgium and the Netherlands has a strong export tradition and has been market oriented for a long time. In this article agricultural markeling in Belgium and the Netherlands is analyzed on the basis of the concepts structure, conduct and performance. In our review of market structure attention is paid to the structure of agriculture, the food consumer, food retailing, government policies, competition and marketing channels. Afterwards market conduct with respect to product, price, promotion and distribution is discussed. Finally some qualitative observations are made on marketing performance. It is concluded that agricultural marketing policies in Belgium and the NeIherlands are increasingly focusing on value added to the agricultural product. As a result vertical marketing systems/food chain and marketing management become familiar concepts to agicultural marketing.     

Improving Market Selection for Fed Beef Cattle: The Value of Real-Time Ultrasound and Relations Data

The introduction of value-based marketing has provided the industry with the means to price cattle based on their desired attributes and has provided an alternative marketing channel for producers to select. Gains can be made by selecting animals that will be "in the grid" for value-based marketing channels while screening out animals that won't and sending them to dressed-value or live-weight marketing channels. This study estimates the gains from using real-time ultrasound (RTU) as well as information on graded animal relations (i.e., animals that have the same parentage slaughtered and graded in previous years) to predict carcass quality and yield grades prior to slaughter. These predictions are used in an optimization model designed to select the marketing channel for individual animals that will maximize returns. The optimal marketing strategy from this study involves a mix of live-weight, dressed-weight and grid sales methods rather than marketing all of the animals together. The results suggest that increases in returns in the range of $0.61–27.26 per head from using relations data, $9.04-16.75 per head from using RTU measures and $11.27-27.93 per head from using both to selectively market beef animals. These estimates do not account for the gains that could be obtained from using RTU to improve market timing, i.e., to time when the animal will grade best.     

“企业化”的关键在于市场

地勘单位企业化是一个绕不开的难题,地勘单位走向市场,走企业化道路,是大势所趋.破解地勘单位企业化难题的关键在于:①政府先要为地勘单位进一步改革垫付成本,帮助他们解决历史遗留问题;②地勘单位要真正按照事企分开的原则进行改革;③地勘队伍要进行专业化分工,为上市创造必要条件;④政府要为地勘单位培育好矿产勘查资本市场和矿业权有形市场.     

Structure and Dynamics of Livestock Marketing in Rural Uganda: Constraints and Prospects for Research and Development

ABSTRACT

The projected global expansion in consumption of meat and other livestock products potentially offers sub-Saharan African small-holder farmers opportunities to escape from the poverty trap. A necessary condition for exploiting this potential is the establishment of marketing systems that provide farmers with reasonable incentives to participate in the market. In this study, the functioning of livestock markets in rural Uganda is analyzed based on a survey of 401 livestock keepers, complimented with focus group discussions with livestock traders and policy planners. The first part is dedicated to the empirical analysis of key organizational and institutional arrangements. Constraints along the marketing chain as well as potential institutional solutions are illuminated. The second part is dedicated to propositions of new areas where more work and new results are needed to improve the functioning of the livestock marketing chain. Empirical findings indicated the following institutional constraints: a poor market information system, lack of grades and standards, lack of trade finance, poor contract enforcement and dispute settlement, disorganized actors, high transaction risks, and poorly developed marketing infrastructure. The study recommends a structured approach to livestock marketing, market infrastructure development, and emphasis on arbitration systems as specific ways of improving the efficiency of livestock marketing in Uganda and other developing countries.     

水电开发企业治理结构法律保障机制研究

以制约水电开发的市场、社会和生态问题为切入点,对水电开发企业构建利益相关者协调治理法律保障机制的必要性进行说明,进而对法律保障机制构想做了阐述,并着重研究了水电开发企业公司利益相关者协调治理的信息披露法律保障机制。     

Real estate market efficiency

Summary

The application of modern portfolio theory to the investment in shares and bonds is integrally connected with the efficient market hypothesis. The requirement of multivariate normality of security returns is a sufficient condition for equilibrium asset pricing models such as the capital asset pricing model to theoretical work. Nevertheless the empirical relevance in decision making is firmly based on the efficiency of the capital market. If real estate investors are to avail themselves of these techniques it is first necessary to ensure the requirements of the efficient market hypothesis are satisfied in the context of the property market. This paper reports the results of such an inquiry into the British and Australian real estate markets.     

Productivity and Environmental Performance in Marketing Cooperatives: An Analysis of the Spanish Horticultural Sector

The paper analyses the productivity of marketing cooperatives incorporating environmental inputs/outputs. In the European agriculture, expectations for attaining sustainable and competitive agriculture rely to a great extent on the cooperative sector's ability to adapt to new market conditions. These challenges have led marketing cooperatives in the fruit and vegetables sector to consider improvements in productivity and sound environmental performance. The study analyses the total factor productivity related to environmental variables in this sector using a parametric‐stochastic approach and panel data on Spanish cooperatives over the period 1994–2002. Additionally, the determinants of environmental productivity are examined econometrically. The estimates obtained show an increase in efficiency for the period under study and a relationship between productivity changes and management factors, such as labour quality, capital intensity and environmental spillover.     

Raising offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in sub-Saharan Africa: a transaction cost economics approach

Farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa are constrained by large transaction costs associated with marketing of their livestock. However, transaction costs are often not taken into account in the analysis of factors hampering the development of livestock marketing in this region. This article empirically measures the influence of transaction costs on the offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in Uganda. The study is based on the monitoring of 696 cattle transactions in three districts of Uganda from August 2004 to August 2005. The estimated models suggest that proportional transaction costs represented by the state of roads, distance to markets, and time taken to reach the market are important variables constraining market participation. In order to raise offtake from the national herd, it is essential to explicitly address these costs. One potential solution is collective action in marketing of livestock in which proportional and fixed transaction costs are reduced and shared among the group members.     

Inflation,capital markets and the supply of beef

This paper puts forward an explanation for the negative elasticity of supply of beef found in many LDC's. As is explained by Jarvis (1974), the elasticity of supply of beef may be negative in the short run due to the dual role of cattle as both a capital and a consumption good. But in some LDC's, and especially in Latin America, one may find a long-run negative association between slaughter and prices, that cannot be explained by assuming shocks to slaughter are causing changes in prices. It is no coincidence that Jarvis' hypothesis itself was developed to explain developments in Argentina, a country with chronic high inflation. The paper argues that this long-run relationship cannot be explained by the Jarvis hypothesis, and offers an alternative hypothesis based on the demand for cattle as a hedge against inflation. The long-run negative association between slaughter and prices has been found in high inflation countries. High inflation combined with excessive regulation of capital markets cause the well known phenomenon of desintermediation. It is argued here that cattle plays a role in the inflation hedged portfolio that is then demanded. Therefore, with imperfect capital markets the supply of beef is affected by the demand for cattle as an asset, and this demand, in turn, is affected by inflation. This paper will only attempt to prove the link between imperfect capital markets and the supply of beef. The way inflation in a repressed capital market leads to an imperfect capital market is not addressed here, for reasons of brevity. The paper will develop a model that in the context of imperfect capital markets results in a negative elasticity of supply. The model will then be tested with Uruguayan data. Uruguayan data are very adequate to test the hypothesis because they cover both a period without inflation and a period of high inflation. The results support that cattle was used as an alternative to money holdings when inflation signified a big tax on the latter. Inflation therefore affected the demand for cattle, or, conversely, the supply of beef.     

发展我国资本市场之我见

我国从1981年重发国债起,资本市场已有20余年,对我国经济建设的资金需求做出了巨大贡献。但同时,存在一些问题亟待解决:资本市场结构不合理、投资主体不完整、资本市场与货币市场缺乏有效沟通、监管法律法规之间不协调、信息披露有水分等。只有妥善解决这些问题,我国资本市场才能健康发展。文章对此提出一些措施与建议。     

涉农电商对产业扶贫的作用及相关措施探讨

[目的]文章旨在从作用机理的角度论证涉农电商的发展对我国当前产业扶贫的促进作用,并结合作者所观察到的一些问题提出几点思考和建议,以供电商扶贫工作者和相关方面的学者参考。[方法]该文主要采用文献研究、归纳总结及逻辑推理分析等方法,对上述作用机理及相关问题进行分析。[结果]发展涉农电商能让贫困农户更方便寻找市场销路,获得更稳定的收入,同时也有利于激发贫困户的积极性,提升自身发展能力;但在发展涉农电商时,常常会出现诸如产品质量差、市场营销能力不足、脱贫增收效果不佳、产业开发项目不尊重市场规律等问题。[结论]在贫困地区发展涉农电商时应当重视加强以下6个方面的工作:①严格把控产品质量关;②重视市场营销能力建设;③注重脱贫增收效果;④注重构建以市场需求为导向项目选择机制;⑤充分发挥当地致富领头人的作用;⑥注重当地产业发展人才的培养。     

Risk and marketing behavior: pricing fed cattle on a grid

A seven‐year comparative study of grid pricing versus average pricing of slaughter cattle was conducted to evaluate carcass quality market signals. The primary objectives of the study are to determine: (1) if market signals sent through the grid pricing system indicate an improvement in the grid incentive mechanism over time, (2) how changes in the grid premium and discount structure associated with carcass quality affect the market risk premium, and (3) if changes in price risk (variance) affect producer marketing decisions. An Exponential‐Autoregressive‐Conditional‐Heteroskedasticity‐in‐Mean (EARCH‐in‐Mean) modeling procedure was adopted. Empirical results suggest that the grid premium and discount structure is slowly adjusting carcass quality market signals to encourage marketing on a grid and discourage marketing by the pen. The inclusion of the conditional variance in the empirical model indicates that variance associated with the carcass quality risk premium adds financial risk associated with the adoption of grid pricing.     

Towards an Integrated Marketing System of Agricultural Products in Developing Countries

The myriad of deficiencies that are responsible for derailing efforts of development in the developing countries has among its culprits, most of the marketing activities and institutions. The agricultural sector is the most important sector of development in developing countries; furthermore, it comprises the most catastrophic problems. A model is deemed necessary, one which offers the decislon makers in developing countries an opponuniv to find a solution to these identifiable problems. Such a model was proposed in this study to integrate the marketing system for their agricultural products. The model is conceptual in nature and is based on a system's approach; considerations were given to the following variables: current environments, domestic and international conditions, internal and external determinants, plans, macro and micro decisions, modifiers, spheres of activities, marketing mix, switches and ultimate output.     

论建设全国统一的矿业权二级市场

我国在矿产资源开发中所出现的秩序不够规范、个别环节滋生腐败、矿业资本市场不健全、矿业融资难等相关问题,其主要原因之一,是没有建立起相应的统一、规范市场,而矿业权二级市场的建立将能够在很大程度上解决这些问题。因此,全国统一的矿业权二级市场的建设对于我国矿产资源开发管理具有必要性和迫切性,通过全国统一的矿业权二级市场的建设,将会使我国的矿产资源开发行为日趋合理。     

An Econometric Model of the Colombian Beef Sector: 1950–1970

Recent theoretical and empirical studies of beef cattle producers by Barros, Jarvis, Nores, Reutlinger, and Yver have focused on producers' supply response assuming cattle represent consumption goods and capital goods. To differentiate producer price response for cattle sold as consumption goods and cattle retained as capital goods requires data on herd and slaughter age-sex structure. This has limited the range of econometric work which could be carried out in many developing countries. This study utilizes a time series of the Colombian cattle herd which was recently constructed by Rivas and Valdes and which has the necessary age-sex and slaughter data to develop a complete system of structural equations representing the simultaneous determination of demand and supply for Colombian cattle over the 1950–1970 period.     

土地督察对土地市场化的影响

研究目的：分析土地督察对土地出让市场市场化的作用效果,为充分发挥土地督察制度效应,促进土地市场化提供参考。研究方法：固定效应模型、随机效应模型和混合OLS模型。研究结果：（1）土地督察对土地市场化具有显著作用,例行督察比专项督察的效果更优。（2）由于实行专项督察,2007年和2008年被督察区域土地出让市场的市场化程度提高了5.71%;2008年由于实行了土地例行督察,被督察区域比未实行督察时期提高了17.39%。（3）土地督察制度在一定程度上能够促进土地市场的发展,但是在强度和广度上还存在差别。今后还需结合土地市场的建设,借提高土地市场化程度的同时完善健全土地督察制度,使土地督察制度更充分地发挥制度效用,进一步促进土地市场化程度的提高。     

云南核桃产业市场前景分析与对策建议

云南是我国最大的核桃主产区,是全省重点发展的五类林产品之一。从市场的内外部影响因素,供给与需求,交易与营销的角度,对云南核桃产业市场状况与前景进行了分析与比较,指出了云南核桃产业在种质资源、产业发展模式、产业合作组织、龙头企业、品牌形象、营销渠道等方面存在的问题与差距。在此基础上,系统地提出了有效提升本省核桃产业整体市场竞争力的相关对策建议。