A general equilibrium analysis of production subsidy in a Harris-Todaro developing economy: an application to India

Since 1950s India has advocated import substituting industrialization policies to promote its manufacturing sector. The end result was creation of a dual economy: highly favored manufacturing sector with high and rigid wages and neglected agricultural sector with low wages and poverty. Because of the higher wages in the manufacturing sector, the rural laborers migrate to the urban sector, a typical characteristic of the Harris-Todaro developing economy. Realizing this crisis, the Indian government recently initiated policies to boost agricultural production to curb the labor migration and improve the welfare of the rural population. In this study, we develop a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for India by incorporating Harris-Todaro economic characteristics of unemployment, labor migration, farm dependant population, and labor-intensive agriculture. We use the model to analyze the effects of agricultural production subsidy policies on employment, factor price, output price, output levels, and welfare in agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Our findings show that agricultural production subsidy increases agricultural production, reduces unemployment, raises the wage rate in the agriculture sector, augments the consumption among the rural and urban households, and increases the rental rate for capital in agricultural sector.     

Farmer perception and valuation of seed quality: Evidence from bean and cowpea seed auctions in Tanzania and Ghana

Double blind field experiments and experimental auctions were conducted with bean and cowpea farmers in Tanzania and Ghana to gauge the relative demand for three types of seed products that differ in price and quality: certified, quality declared, and recycled. Whether the cost differential makes these seeds qualitatively different products as reflected in their perceived performance, and whether that translates into farmers’ willingness to pay price premiums, are the research questions addressed by this study. Results indicate that, all else equal, there were significant differences in the perceived quality of the seed products evaluated. Farmers were willing to pay significantly more for their higher rated seed relative to their lower rated seeds. However, for a majority of farmers the magnitude of the premium they are willing to pay for a higher quality seed is less than the current price differential between certified seed and grain. Research and policy implications of these results for legume seed system are discussed.     

Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability

Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy (CE) practices and prevailing business models. Recognize the same; this study examines the role of blockchain technology in circular CE practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 404 enterprises located in Chinese and Pakistani territories, involved in cross-border supply chain operations. Both countries' sample has great relevance due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which possesses several positive fallouts in terms of technology spillovers across firms. Using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) modeling framework, this study provides three key findings. First, BCT significantly improves the circular economy practices (circular procurement, circular design, recycling, and remanufacturing). Second, CE practices help improve firms' environmental performance and stimulate their financial performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study sets out the foundations for participating countries/firms that simultaneously achieve financial and sustainable goals by integrating blockchain technology in circular economy practices.     

Customer perception and competitive quality strategy

The objective of this paper is to determine the optimum level of quality a firm should choose in a product/service, given the customers‘ perceptions of quality and the reference standard in a competitive market. Our work on this quality selection problem differs from those of past researchers in that we model explicitly customer's perceptions and the reference standard. We develop a game-theoretic model to obtain insights into the firms’ quality selection problem. The model results suggest that the market differentially provides rewards or penalties to firms depending upon customers' perceptions as well as other market and product-specific parameters. We contrast our findings for an oligopolist with that for a monopolist and observe that although an oligopolist often provides a better quality product, he does not do so always; especially when perceptions are sufficiently weak and the reference standard is endogenous.     

The role of social networks in the adoption of competing new technologies in Ghana

We use a detailed dataset to examine the impact of social networks, conditional on contextual and individual confounders, on farmers' adoption of competing improved soybean varieties in Ghana. Based on the contagion conceptual framework, we employ a spatial autoregressive multinomial probit model to examine how neighbours' varietal and cross-varietal adoption of improved varieties affect a farmer's adoption decision in the social network. Our results show that adoption decisions in a network tend to converge on one variety, such that beyond a threshold of adopting neighbours of that improved variety, the cross-varietal effects tend to lose significance in the network. If the shares of adopting neighbours of the improved varieties are equal, we find evidence that farmers are not more likely to adopt either improved variety compared to farmers with no neighbours who have adopted the improved varieties. The findings demonstrate the significance of neighbourhood effects in the adoption of competing technologies.     

The establishment of industrial branding through dyadic logistics partnership success (LPS): The case of the Malaysian automotive and logistics industry

Logistics partnerships across dyadic and triadic relationship networks have been the basis of extensive research in the extant literature. It is well understood that competitive advantage within logistics and distribution and within supply chains are driven by value-adding aspects of not only the core competencies of each tier in the network, but also via tangential supporting factors. It is also well understood that there is a strong relationship between logistics and distribution and marketing functions, particularly in product-based organisations. In addition to deepening our understanding of how successful partnerships throughout the source–make–deliver continuum can be optimised, this research also seeks to identify how a supporting element in terms of industrial branding and marketing can lead to relational sustainability. Hence, this paper outlines the relationship between logistics partnership success (LPS) factors and the inherent link to industrial branding establishment and business sustainability within the Malaysian automotive industry (specifically, car manufacturers). Adopting a multiple case study approach, findings suggest that there is a strong association between logistics service performance (LSP) provided by the third party logistics provider (TPLP) and the development and support of a mutual brand image for both the TPLP and the car manufacturer. We contribute to the extant literature on logistics partnership and industrial branding through linking LSP with the creation and maintenance of an industrial branding strategy for both parties in the context of the Malaysian automotive industry.     

Utilising farm-level panel data to estimate climate change impacts and adaptation potentials

We combine farm accounting data with high-resolution meteorological data, and climate scenarios to estimate climate change impacts and adaptation potentials at the farm level. To do so, we adapt the seminal model of Moore and Lobell (2014) who applied panel data econometrics to data aggregated from the farm to the regional (subnational) level. We discuss and empirically investigate the advantages and challenges of applying such models to farm-level data, including issues of endogeneity of explanatory variables, heterogeneity of farm responses to weather shocks, measurement errors in meteorological variables, and aggregation bias. Empirical investigations into these issues reveal that endogeneity due to measurement errors in temperature and precipitation variables, as well as heterogeneous responses of farms toward climate change may be problematic. Moreover, depending on how data are aggregated, results differ substantially compared to farm-level analysis. Based on data from Austria and two climate scenarios (Effective Measures and High Emission) for 2040, we estimate that the profits of farms will decline, on average, by 4.4% (Effective Measures) and 10% (High Emission). Adaptation options help to considerably ameliorate the adverse situation under both scenarios. Our results reinforce the need for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.     

Extrinsic psychosocial stressors and workers’ productivity: impact of employee age and industry experience

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to explore the impact of employee age and industrial experience on extrinsic psychosocial stressors that may influence the productivity of workers. Using an integrated theoretical approach, this study examines four extrinsic psychosocial stressors, i.e. work environment, infrastructure, economy and country environment. The data were collected from Pakistani construction industry through a questionnaire survey approach. The study’s findings show that workers having diverse ages did not agree over several work environments and economy-related psychosocial stressors, whereas workers having diverse industrial experiences were in disagreement over numerous country environment and economy-related psychosocial stressors. The study concludes that firms need to mitigate the work environment related psychosocial stressors in young workers, such as, over congestion and inaccessibility to different tools, high temperature and workspace atmosphere. Moreover, organizational and governmental support are direly needed to overcome the country environment-related psychosocial stressors of less experienced workers who are more susceptible to these stressors due to the complex organizational culture, occurrence of natural disasters and unfavourable economic and political state of the country.     

Corporate Acquisitions and the Operating Performance of Malaysian Companies

We report improvements in long run operating performance for a sample of Malaysian companies that made acquisitions over the period 1988–1992. As the sample selected consists of acquisitions of private target companies, the analysis allows us to focus on the possibility of changes arising from non-disciplinary sources. The reported improvements do not appear to have been achieved by sacrificing the long-term viability of the combined firms in pursuit of shortterm objectives. However, as the target companies in the current study were previously privately-owned businesses, researchers and policy makers should be wary before generalising from these results.