Warren Belasco. Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food

Warren Belasco does not know what the future of food is goingto be, but he does know a great deal about the history of thefuture of food. In his book, Meals to Come: A History of theFuture of Food, Belasco examines predictions, discussions, fears,and controversies that have surrounded our food supply overthe previous two centuries. As he notes in his introduction,making predictions is a risky business, but, risk aside, therehave been no shortage     

A saddlepoint approximation to the distribution of the sum of independent non‐identically beta random variables

The exact distribution of the sum of more than two independent beta random variables has not been known. Even in terms of approximations, only the normal approximation is known for the sum. Motivated by Murakami [Statistica Neerlandica, 2014, doi:10.1111/stan.12032], we derive here a saddlepoint approximation for the distribution of sum. An extensive simulation study shows that it always performs better than the normal approximation.     

Why don't producers adopt best management practices? An analysis of the beef cattle industry

Cattle producers were surveyed to determine their adoption rates and reasons for non‐adoption of 16 best management practices. Potential reasons for non‐adoption included unfamiliarity, non‐applicability, high cost, still considering adoption, and preference not to adopt. The two most commonly cited reasons for non‐adoption were unfamiliarity and non‐applicability of the practice. Results highlight the importance of educational efforts in encouraging adoption, as well as farm type and financial situation of the farmer.     

Assessing Global Computable General Equilibrium Model Validity Using Agricultural Price Volatility

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are commonly used for global agricultural market analysis. Concerns are sometimes raised, however, about the quality of their output since key parameters may not be econometrically estimated and little emphasis is generally given to model assessment. This article addresses the latter issue by developing an approach to validating CGE models based on the ability to reproduce observed price volatility in agricultural markets. We show how patterns in the deviations between model predictions and validation criteria can be used to identify the weak points of a model and guide development of improved specifications with firmer empirical foundations.     

Analysis of production efficiency of beef cow/calf farms in Alberta

This article measures production efficiency across cow–calf farms in Alberta, and examines the sources of variation in efficiency. Average technical, allocative and economic efficiencies are, respectively, 83%, 78% and 67%. Biological efficiency (increased conception, calving and weaning rates), larger herd size, higher share of family labour and greater expense for bedding material reduce inefficiency. Inefficiency was also related to receipt of government subsidies.     

中国企业海外并购法则

中国企业在中国本地市场发展的情况很好，但它们缺乏并购海外企业的经验，如果它们要通过并购打入或扩展海外市场，尤其是已经成熟的市场，是非常危险的。