Regional Comparisons,Spatial Aggregation,and Asymmetry of Price Pass-Through in U.S. Gasoline Markets

Spot to retail price pass-through behavior of the U.S. gasoline market was investigated at the national and regional levels, using weekly wholesale and retail motor gasoline prices from January 2000 to the present. Asymmetric pass-through was found across all regions, with faster pass-through when prices are rising. Pass-through patterns, in terms of speed and time for completion, were found to vary from region to region. Spatial aggregation was investigated at the national level and the East Coast with the aggregated cumulative pass-through being greater than the volume-weighted regional pass-through when spot prices increase. These results are useful to the petroleum industry, consumers, and policy makers by providing a basis to estimate the retail price effects that result from a change in spot price.     

INTRODUCTION: MINING HISTORY IN CONTEXT

This article introduces the theme and the articles in this special issue of the Australian Economic History Review on mining history. It puts the subject of the articles in the context of current changes in the global mining industry and notes the themes that may be explored in further research.     

R&D Subsidies,Spillovers, and Privatization in Mixed Markets

We examine the use of subsidies to research and development (R&D) in a mixed and a private duopoly market. We show that the socially optimal R&D subsidy is increasing in the degree of spillovers, but it is lower in the private duopoly. The optimal R&D subsidy leads to an increase in total R&D and production; however, it does not lead to the equalization of per firm output and therefore to an efficient distribution of production costs. We also find that privatization of the public firm reduces R&D activity and welfare in the duopoly market. This result stands even when optimal R&D subsidies are provided.     

IT MAY BE OUR CURRENCY,BUT IT'S YOUR PROBLEM

The dollar's dominance of international transactions and role as a reserve currency is an exorbitant privilege that is a burden as well as a blessing for the US. It achieved this dominance early in the twentieth century, quite quickly in fact; it may also see that status change equally quickly were the world to move to a multipolar system of currencies. Among the most likely candidates for reserve currencies in such a world are the dollar, the euro, and the Chinese renminbi, Barry Eichengreen explained in his Butlin Lecture earlier in 2011.     

Food Security and Agricultural Changes in the Course of China＇s Urbanization

China's small farmers face increasing challenges because of land and water resource constraints and the effects of climate change. With the strengthened agricultural stimulus policies, poverty reduction and social protection programs, as well as the expanding international food trade, up to now China has achieved food security through small farm agriculture. During intensive economic restructuring, smallholders still coexist with large‐sized farms and industrialized agricultural businesses, but are in a vulnerable position in market transactions. Oriented to 2050, China's agricultural development and food security policies should work to improve domestic market structure, to further release international trade control and to empower smallholders.     

Influence of International Openness on Corporate Environmental Performance in China

This paper examines how international openness influences China's corporate environmental performance. A unique firm‐level dataset is constructed by combining two databases: the Annual Industrial Survey and the China GreenWatch Program Rating System. The empirical results obtained from a series of ordered probit models indicate that openness has a positive relation to corporate environmental performance in China. However, the two main market‐opening strategies in China, exporting and attracting foreign investment, have different effects on environmental performance. The results reveal that foreign investment plays a substantial and positive role that can support the environmental spillovers in China. However, the effect of exporting is insignificant. The environmental pressure from foreign customers to improve Chinese firms' environmental performance presents a challenge. Our study indicates that China could make environmental quality improvements through increased international openness, as is likely the case for other developing countries.     

Farmers' Preference for Farming: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Farm Survey in India

Using data from a nationally representative farm survey in India, we have analyzed Indian farmers' stated preference for farming as a profession. Findings show that more than 40% of farmers dislike farming as a profession because of low profits, high risk, and lack of social status, yet they continue with it owing to a lack of opportunities outside agriculture. Farmers who express a preference for moving out of agriculture are mostly those with small landholdings, poor irrigation facilities, fewer productive assets including livestock, and follow a cereal‐centric cropping pattern. They also have relatively lower access to credit, insurance, and information, and are weakly integrated with social networks such as self‐help groups and farmers' organizations. Importantly, the disinclination for farming, conditional on other covariates, is not significantly differentiated by caste, an important indicator of social status in rural India. Yet, within a caste group, the dislike for farming moderates with larger landholdings.     

Reactions to Shocks and Monetary Policy Regimes: Inflation Targeting Versus Flexible Currency Board in Sub‐Saharan Africa

The paper examines the monetary policy actions through which central banks in sub‐Saharan Africa have tried to eliminate the negative impacts of the shocks facing their economies. We compare two different monetary policy regimes: a currency board regime (in the CFA zone) and an inflation targeting policy regime (Ghana and South Africa) when central banks respond to demand, supply, and fiscal shocks. We extend the usual forecasting and policy analysis system models to replicate the economic features of these economies during the period 2002–12 and to evaluate the impact of several policies in response to these shocks. We find that both policies are inappropriate in helping the economies escape from the effects of negative demand shocks, both are essential when negative shocks to primary balance occur, while inflation targeting dominates the currency board regime as a strategy to cope with positive shocks to inflation.     

Nonparametric Evaluation of Economies of Scope in the Context of Technical Efficiency: The Case of Rice and Vegetable Farms in Korea

This paper provides a nonparametric evaluation of economies of scope in the context of technical efficiency allowing for non‐convexity, with an application to Korean rice and vegetable farms. Relying on non‐parametric‐free disposal hull and data envelopment analysis approaches and input–output data for rice and vegetable farms from the Korea Farm Household Economy Survey data collected in 2007, this article examines technical inefficiency and its decomposition under non‐convexity and convexity. Empirical measures of technical inefficiency and its decomposition results are provided, with a focus on a component of technical inefficiency associated with economies of scope (i.e. diversification benefits) under non‐convexity in production technology. The decomposition measures of technical inefficiency include pure technical inefficiency, size inefficiency and diversification inefficiency. The results provide empirical evidence supporting size‐dependent diversification strategies, where benefits of diversification are larger for small farms on average compared to those of large farms.     

Measuring Production and Irrigation Efficiencies of Rice Farms: Evidence from the Punjab Province,Pakistan

We employ a non‐parametric approach, data envelopment analysis, to estimate the technical and irrigation efficiency of rice farms in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. We use a cross‐sectional dataset of 80 rice growers, including 45 tube‐well owners and 35 water buyers. Mean technical efficiency scores show that tube‐well owners and water buyers are operating at fairly high efficiency levels, indicating that access to technology is not a major constraint. However, irrigation inefficiency is pronounced, with water buyers being more inefficient than tube‐well owners. A bootstrap truncated regression is used to investigate the determinants of technical and irrigation efficiency. We suggest that groundwater management policies should be designed to address efficiency enhancing factors such as knowledge of crop water consumption requirement, better credit opportunities, outreach extension services and training programs.