Welfare Impacts of Intellectual Property Protection in the Seed Industry

We examine the welfare impact of different intellectual property protection (IPP) regimes in private sector seed research and development (R&D). We take into account the period after expiration of legal IPP, and require simultaneous equilibrium in markets for R&D, seeds, and final product. Optimal IPP is remarkably insensitive to alternative parameterizations, except for R&D productivity. Results suggest that optimal IPP is greater than IPP in the U.S. seed corn market, but lower than the IPP that could be attained with genetic use restriction technologies. Optimal IPP is much higher than IPP achieved under open-pollinated crops or where legal IPP is limited.     

Strategic Behavior and Consolidation in the Agricultural Biotechnology Industry

We develop a model explaining the consolidation patterns in the agricultural biotechnology industry. Among different consolidation and cooperation mechanisms, we consider collaborative and licensing agreements, joint ventures, acquisitions, and exchanges of ownership and spin-offs. The key results derive from the benefits of coordinated actions, distinction between transferable and nontransferable payoffs, the substitutability, complementarity, and the importance of the managers' noncontractible investments, and access and expansion of markets. Results from the model are used to examine the cooperation and consolidation activities for four major players in the agricultural biotechnology industry, DuPont , Dow Chemical , Monsanto , and Novartis .     

Genetically Modified Crops: Their Market and Welfare Impacts

A framework is developed for examining price and welfare effects of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) products. In the short run, non-GM grain generally becomes another identity-preserved product. However, more profound market effects are observed under some reasonable parameterizations. When calibrated to reflect the U.S. corn market, introducing GM technology increases aggregate welfare over a wide range of scenarios, unless the corresponding production cost savings are small and consumers are seriously concerned about GM products. The possibility that GM technology may reduce aggregate welfare is interesting because the model assumes rational agents and does not include regulatory constraints.     

基于社会权利视角的中国福利国家之辨析

20世纪中叶出现的社会权利,一方面丰富了公民权利的内涵,另一方面重塑了公民与国家之间的关系,即享有福利不再是国家的施舍,而是公民的权利。社会权利是福利国家的逻辑起点和现实归宿。文章以社会权利为工具,分析福利国家的缘起及其类型;考察新中国成立以来福利国家演变的三种模式:国家/集体福利模式、市场福利模式、社会合作福利模式及其特点。中国的福利国家在弥补市场失灵、推进公民社会权利的实现方面发挥着重要作用,但也存在着城乡不平等、身份不平等以及福利利益流动不自由的问题。这要通过强化福利国家制度的权利理念,加大财政转移支付力度,提高福利金统筹层次等措施加以解决。     

土地征收中区分公益性与非公益性之弊端

本文通过对土地征收中区分公益性与非公益性的弊端分析，肯定了过去的一些做法，从而明确征地制度改革的重点和方向就是要建立征收与储备相结合、征地与供地相分离的管理制度，坚持统一征地、统一供地的管理原则。     

农地城市流转中福利变化研究进展综述

研究目的:综述国内外有关农地城市流转中福利变化研究的文献。研究方法:本文主要采用了文献回顾法、归纳法等对国际和国内有关农地城市流转中福利变化的研究进展进行了总结和分析。研究结果:国内外学者在农地城市流转福利测度指标体系、福利增值收益分配,福利补偿的制度安排,福利分割利益集团的划分等方面已取得不少研究成果,但在福利的定量研究、对非经济福利的衡量等方面研究深度不够、部分问题研究不完善。研究结论:中国学者应在研究方法和研究理论上更多地借鉴国外已有的经验和成果,把西方学者有关福利分析的理论框架和定量决策模型纳入中国农地城市流转中的福利分析,这对中国农地城市流转的福利变化研究有重要的理论价值和现实意义。     

Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights: Causes and Consequences

A game-theoretic model of heterogeneous producers is developed to examine the economic causes and consequences of intellectual property right (IPR) infringement in the context of a small open developing economy. Analytical results show that complete deterrence of IPR infringement is not always economically optimal. IPR infringement affects economic welfare and has important ramifications for the pricing and adoption of the new technology (biotechnology). The quantitative nature of results depends on the labeling regime. If the TRIPs agreement follows the custom of retaliatory sanctions under GATT, IPR enforcement will remain imperfect and innovators' ability to obtain value for their biotech traits will be limited.     

University Life Science Programs and Agricultural Biotechnology

We examine sources of productivity in bioscience research and graduate training in U.S. universities. For this purpose, we first identify the scientific publications cited on agricultural biotechnology patents, and then trace the citations back to the universities producing the cited research. Insight is thus gained into the university investments that demonstrably influence useful technology. Life-science budget allocations substantially affect both graduate education and technology-relevant science. Graduate training shows decreasing returns to budget scale, while productive research shows decreasing returns in the short run but increasing returns in the long run. Training is a weak substitute for research, while research is a moderate complement to training.     

国有林区职工福利排斥状况分析

在东北、内蒙古国有林区森林资源经济转型的进程中,由于特殊的历史背景和复杂的身份构成,国有林区职工在工资收入、社会保障、住房等政策享受上面临着广泛的福利排斥。主要分析来自林区内部职工间和林区内外从业者间的福利排斥状况,并针对性地提出正视福利排斥的客观存在,积极寻求弥补对策等建议。     

Dynamic Supply Response and Welfare Effects of Technological Change on Perennial Crops: The Case of Cocoa in Malaysia

Modern biotechnology will generate crops with higher yields and enhanced resistance to pests and diseases. In the case of perennial crops, the age composition of the present stand, the farmers' willingness to invest, and the yield profiles of old and new trees determine the speed of adoption of the new technology and the timing of the effects on supply and demand conditions. We adapt conventional welfare measures to account for these factors in the Assessment of research induced supply shifts. The application to cocoa in Malaysia shows that consumers and adopting producers gain and non-adopters lose. Overall, 72% of the welfare gains go to the consumers.     

Impacts of Animal Well‐Being and Welfare Media on Meat Demand

This article provides the first known examination of how animal welfare information provided by media sources impacts beef, pork and poultry demand. Results suggest that media attention to animal welfare has a small, but statistically significant impact on meat demand. Long‐run pork and poultry demand are hampered by increasing media attention whereas beef demand is not directly impacted. Loss in consumer demand is found to come from exiting the meat complex rather than spilling over and enhancing demand of competing meats. An outline of economic implications is provided for the broader discussion of animal welfare.     

Do Formula or Competitive Grant Funds Have Greater Impacts on State Agricultural Productivity?

This article examines the impact of public agricultural research and extension on agricultural total factor productivity at the state level. The objective is to establish whether federal formula or competitive grant funding of agricultural research has a greater impact on state agricultural productivity. A pooled cross-section time-series model of agricultural productivity is fitted to annual data for forty-eight contiguous states over 1970–1999. Our results show that public agricultural research and agricultural extension have statistically significant positive impacts on state agricultural productivity. In addition, Hatch formula funding has a larger impact on agricultural productivity than federal competitive grant funding, and a reallocation of Hatch formula funds to competitive grant funding would lower agricultural productivity. This seems unlikely to be a socially optimal policy. Furthermore, from a cost–benefit perspective, our study shows that the social marginal annualized real rate of return to public resources invested in agricultural research is 49–62%, and to public agricultural extension, the rate is even larger.     

经济适用房划拨用地补贴与货币补贴的福利、效率与产权分析

研究目的:针对理论界对经济适用房划拨用地补贴的存废之争,深入探讨中国经济适用房划拨用地改革前景。研究方法:福利经济学、新古典经济学和产权理论相结合。研究结果:经济适用房划拨用地补贴的政策绩效取决于中低收入家庭的住房需求价格弹性,在中低收入家庭经济适用房需求对价格富有弹性的条件下,土地划拨相对于直接的货币补贴而言,是一种合意的制度安排。同时,市场主体某些看似败德的行为,客观上有助于减少经济适用房划拨用地带来的福利净损失。     

FDI技术溢出对江苏农产品加工业的影响研究

本文利用2000-2006年江苏省分行业面板数据,动态考察了FDI对江苏农产品加工业行业内与行业间的技术溢出效应.实证研究表明,2000-2006年内、外资农产品加工企业存在较明显的技术差距,存在发生技术溢出的前提和可能;进一步研究发现,FDI企业通过产业间的前、后向关联促进了内资企业劳动生产率的增长,但产业内的水平溢出效应却不显著,前向关联溢出效果要好于后向关联溢出效果.     

浅谈公益性农业科研单位绩效管理

随着公益性农业科研单位绩效管理的深入推进,随着国家科技体制改革的深入开展,绩效管理作为当代政府管理最有效的工具,其对公益性农业科研单位的综合管理和发展日益重要,因此探讨如何有效开展已刻不容缓。本文通过分析公益性农业科研单位绩效管理的有效做法、需要着力研究解决的重点问题,有针对性提出了深入开展绩效管理的对策建议,以期更好的助推农业科技管理工作,促进农业发展。     

Welfare Impacts of Alternative Public Policies for Agricultural Pollution Control in an Open Economy: A General Equilibrium Framework

A general equilibrium approach is used to evaluate the welfare impacts of alternative policies for reducing agricultural pollution in an open economy with preexisting distortions caused by income taxes and agricultural subsidies. The policies examined here include the removal of distortionary agricultural subsidies. We find that even though these distortions are small compared to others in the economy, removing them and imposing nitrogen reduction subsidies and/or output taxes can enhance welfare and reduce nitrogen pollution; thereby leading to a substantial double dividend. The relative efficiency of the alternative policies examined here depends on the level of the nitrogen reduction target.     

国有林区森林资源经济转型职工家庭福利研究

以2014年和2015年国有森工集团全面停止天然林商业性采伐为时间节点,选取重点国有林区民生监测项目中2013年和2016年的数据,在Sen的可行能力框架下,应用模糊评价法,分析东北、内蒙古国有林区森林资源经济转型中职工家庭的福利状况。研究结果表明:2016年职工家庭总福利较2013年有所提升,但仍处于较低水平;从福利功能来看,2016年家庭经济状况、社会保障较2013年有所恶化,但社会资本、居住条件和心理状态得到了改善,经济状况、居住条件的边际改善对职工家庭总福利的提升影响最大;从福利差距来看,2016年职工家庭之间的内部福利差距较2013年有所缩小,中低福利水平的职工家庭增多,高福利水平的职工家庭减少。因此,提出帮助职工开展林下经营、改进居住环境的配套设施、完善职工养老体系,加强职业技术培训等建议。     

On the Valuation of Uncertainty in Welfare Analysis

This article develops a general model of private and public choice under temporal uncertainty. The model incorporates the effects of risk preferences and the prospect of future learning into both the individual and aggregate valuations of public projects. The analysis provides new insights on individual valuation, its implications for benefit–cost analysis and the characterization of Pareto-efficiency under uncertainty. It also resolves some of the confusion in the option value and quasi-option value literature.     

The Effects of NAFTA on Trade and Welfare in the U.S. Fresh Tomato Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure NAFTA's impact to date and quantify how the producers and consumers of fresh tomatoes in the United States, Canada and Mexico have benefited or lost. Changes in consumer and producer surpluses were calculated in 2001 US dollars based on simulations of two scenarios. The analysis found that U.S. consumers captured $12.1 billion more surplus than they would have captured had NAFTA not been enacted. Mexican fresh tomato producers gained an additional $2.08 billion in surplus due to NAFTA. In contrast to Mexican growers, U.S. and Canadian producers appear not to have benefited economically from NAFTA. Findings suggest that U.S. producers would have earned $3.29 billion more if NAFTA had not gone into effect. Canadian producer surplus with NAFTA was estimated to be approximately $20 million less with NAFTA, and the total net benefit from NAFTA was found to be a positive $10.87 billion.     

Public Investment and Industry Incentives in Life-Science Research

Life-science research has shifted rapidly from the public to the private sector, raising questions about government's remaining role. We shed light on the issue by employing a dynamic investment-response model to examine the public's impact on industry life-science research effort and success. We find that government expenditures in both basic biological research and agricultural and medical science create substantial spillovers for private firms. The spillovers are, unfortunately, partly nullified by government competition for scarce research inputs. Yet even after accounting for such competition, public investment has been strongly complementary to private investment. Indeed, opportunities created through public research are the principal source of growth in industry life sciences.