Factors influencing adoption of genetically modified crops in Africa

The debate around genetically modified (GM) crops in Africa continues to grow especially among policy-makers, food manufacturers, farmer organisation and consumer advocacy groups and the general public. While other regions have taken a firm position on biotech crops, Africa remains largely ambivalent, with wide variation in GM policy across countries. The central objective of this paper is to analyse the factors that influence the adoption of GM crops in Africa. First we evaluate the current status of GM crop adoption in Africa. Second we identify the key enablers and hindrances to adoption of GM crops. The main factors include ministerial control of biosafety, peer country influence, stage of seed sector development, advocacy by key political figures, the media, activism, food security and technical capacity. We posit that, for most African countries, GM policy is guided by political rather than technological considerations with media and special interest groups playing a key role. Despite the numerous impediments, slow progress is being made in preparing the requisite enabling environment for biotechnology adoption in Africa.     

Preparations for the Euro by U.K. SMEs with Trading Links with the Euro Currency Area

This paper examines euro preparations by U.K. SMEs with trading links with the euro currency area. It suggests, notwithstanding the U.K.'s decision not to join the euro in the first wave, that SMEs with euro area trade links are particularly likely to have had to make some adjustments for the introduction of the euro. The paper assesses this level of preparation and seeks to understand if it is contingent upon the characteristics of the business, its geographic location, its business orientation and the type of trade link (e.g. importer/exporter). The paper finds, contrary to previous research, that business characteristics, geographic location and business orientation are, on the whole, of limited value in explaining euro preparation. What, instead, seems more significant is the type of link with the euro area: importers, exporters and those with subsidiary businesses in the euro area appear more likely to have made preparations for the euro than U.K. SMEs that are part of a euro supply-chain or are a subsidiary of a euro area business.     

Cocoa pricing options and their implications for poverty and industrialization in Ghana

This study establishes the cocoa pricing subsidization options that will stabilize processors’ throughput while meeting the multiple, but possibly conflicting, public policy objectives of maximizing government revenue and reducing poverty among Ghanaian cocoa beans producers. To evaluate these options, we construct and numerically simulate a structural dynamic stochastic model of a representative cocoa processor who maximizes the present value of current and expected future profits, given prevailing market conditions and cocoa pricing policies. Our results indicate that, given current processing capacity, the Ghana Cocoa Board would have to offer a 92% discount to processors on main‐crop beans in order to achieve the industrial goal of locally processing 40% of annual production. This would cause light‐crop beans used in processing to be completely displaced by main‐crop beans carried over as inventory. It would also increase mean processor revenues by 167%, but cause the Ghana Cocoa Board to operate at a significant deficit, implying that the stated goal could only be achieved through massive government subsidies.     

Inflation Targeting

There is substantial positive interest within the Federal Reserve in an explicit price level objective as a focus for evaluating Federal Reserve performance. Setting such an explicit objective would raise the question of whether price stability might acquire primacy among the mandates the Federal Reserve has received over the years.JEL Classification E31,E58     

Farmland conversion to non-agricultural uses in the US and Canada: current impacts and concerns for the future

Conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses presents a challenge to future food production and ecosystem services in US and Canada. Expansions of housing, transportation, industry, retail sales, schools and other developments are driving land out of farming. In the US there is annual conversion of 500,000 ha away from food and fibre production systems. Coupled with 1% annual population increase, this will reduce today's 0.6 ha per person to 0.3 ha by 2050. Canada has more land and smaller population, but farmland losses are occurring in fertile areas near coasts and in level valleys where highest quality land is located. Current rates of increase in agricultural productivity will not compensate for this land loss. Compared to US, there are more specific tools and legislation at the provincial level in Canada that provide opportunities for controlling sprawl. Important in both countries is general lack of awareness and concern about loss of productive farmland, a situation that could be improved through education. Stimulating collective understanding of this growing problem and providing viable solutions could provide the basis for national policy strategies to promote and assure sustainable food systems for the future and enhance the capacity to maintain vital ecosystem services.     

Evaluation of the Influence of Agricultural Price Policy on Cotton Production in Côte-d'Ivoire

In this paper the impact of the cotton pricing policy of the marketing board of Côte-d'Ivoire is investigated. A theoretical model is developed to derive the price level which maximizes revenue generated from the marketing board's cotton transactions. A dynamic cotton supply function was estimated and used to compute elasticities. The estimates indicate that farmers in the Country response to price changes and that the pricing policy of the marketing board has been consistent with an objective of generating revenue for the government.     

Authentic subcultural membership: Antecedents and consequences of authenticating acts and authoritative performances

The postmodern consumer often finds authenticity in communities of consumption including those that are based around a focal brand. Two means through which authenticity can be achieved are an individual authenticating act or a collective authoritative performance. Using this dual lens, the contested nature of authenticity within subcultures is explored. Drawing on long, interpretive interviews with surfers, skaters, and snowboarders, it was found that the contested nature of authentic community membership is driven by different identity benefits, including flow and kinship. These two separate benefits lead members to engage different brand‐related cues when seeking an authentic brand partner. This paper advances the understanding of subcultural authenticity by identifying the diversity of identity goals sought from membership of consumption communities and by linking antecedents and outcomes of authenticity, and associated consumption behaviors. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bidding and Information: Evidence from Gilt-edged Auctions

Many studies have shown that government debt auctions underprice debt compared with the secondary market. This paper corroborates this for certain forms of gilt auction by comparing the price received at auction with an almost identical parent stock in the secondary market. Although the sample is small, the parent/auction stock price comparison gives a cleaner measure than used in other studies. The paper also compares non-fungible auctions (where the auction stock differs slightly from the parent at auction and merges subsequently) with fully-fungible ones (where they are identical throughout). Significant underpricing only occurs in non-fungible auctions.