Dynamics of volatility transmission between the U.S. and the Chinese agricultural futures markets

The U.S. and China are two of the biggest players in the world agricultural market. The literature documents that volatility in the U.S. agricultural futures market spills over significantly to that of China. This article provides further insights into the spillovers from China to the U.S. as well as the time horizon and dynamics of the bidirectional spillovers through the application of a multivariate extension of the heterogeneous autoregressive model, in relation to four commodities – soybean, wheat, corn and sugar. The results confirm the existence of significant spillovers from the U.S. to China for four commodities, which are primarily generated by the shorter-term volatility components in the U.S., and provide evidence for the increasing pricing power of the Chinese market. The findings are robust against various specifications and have important investment and policy implications.     

低碳科技创新促进生态产业竞争力的内在机理研究

低碳经济是当前我国经济发展的大势所趋,低碳科技创新对于生态产业竞争力的提升具有积极的促进作用。通过引入低碳科技创新促进生态产业竞争力的相关经济学机理,进而揭示二者作用的演化模型,并从中分析得出低碳科技创新促进生态产业竞争力提升的基本特征及运行模式。     

Are Women Less Capable in Managing Crops? Insights from Cotton Production in Northern China

Women’s performance in agriculture matters, as women are becoming increasingly involved in agricultural production worldwide. Many studies have demonstrated that women-led farms perform less well as a result of less access to production factors, but no studies focus on how women perform without this constraint. This study fills that gap by analyzing the case of cotton cropping, which is known for its high labor requirements, high production inputs, and need for technical knowledge. Using primary data collected in northern China over the 2006–9 period, it uses the concept of “Daily Crop Management” (DCM) and identifies DCM farms managed by women whose husbands were engaged in off-farm activities on a long-term basis. The study finds that one-third of all farms were female-DCM farms, that these were smaller than those of their male counterparts but had equal access to production factors and achieved equal if not better technical and economic performances.     

REACHING THE RURAL POOR THROUGH AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES IN MONGOLIA

This paper focuses on the cooperative sector in central Mongolia. Its aim is to provide new insights into the role and importance of cooperatives among poor rural populations. We analyse cooperatives’ inclusiveness of smaller herders and farmers and cooperatives’ governance structures. The research is based on data collected in selected provinces of the central Töv region. The data were collected for three distinctive target groups – cooperative board members, cooperative members and non‐members. We found that the cooperative sector in Mongolia is strongly affected by the governmental policy regarding wool subsidies, which provides subsidies only to cooperative members and has consequently caused rapid growth in the number of new, free‐riding cooperative members and led to very low levels of members’ self‐identification with their cooperatives. This policy also affects the inner organizational structures of cooperatives. Further, we found indications that poorer farmers tend not to be members of cooperatives and that the overall benefits for non‐members and the general community arising from local cooperatives are rather low.     

农业标准化生产经营微观决策分析

基于农业标准化生产经营的特点,构建了农业标准化生产经营微观决策模型。在农业标准化生产经营决策过程中,影响决策的主要因素有物质资本、人力资本、土地规模、标准化农产品的价格和公共支持。因此,促进农业标准化生产经营必须扩大规模,加大扶持力度,降低成本,提高预期收益。     

中美农业贸易的互补性研究

采用贸易结合度指数(TCD)、出口相似度指数(SI)和贸易互补性指数(TCI)等模型,根据联合国粮农组织(FAO)、美国FAS-Online和中国海关数据库的数据,对中美两国16种主要出口农产品的互补性进行了定量分析。结果显示:(1)中美两国农业贸易依存度逐步提高,美国对中国的依赖程度高于中国对美国的依赖程度。(2)中美两国农业贸易具有良好的互补性,中国入世后两国农业贸易互补性增强。基于上述研究结论,提出了互利双赢的政策建议。     

约束条件下中国农业生产要素配置均衡的演变与突破

从集体化时期以劳动力使用低效化、土地资本要素使用政府指令化为特征,演变到现在以劳动力兼业化、土地细碎分散化、资本投入有限性为特征,中国农业生产要素配置均衡状态得到了优化;农业经济运行机制中,生产要素配置基本手段从以计划为主向以市场为主的过渡是配置优化的关键。但现有农业生产要素配置均衡状态仍存在矛盾和冲突;而突破现有均衡状态的关键,在于通过提高农村基础和职业教育保障水平、完善农村社会保障体系、强化农村土地承包权的物权属性等促进农村土地更大范围的流转,以打破兼业化的劳动力要素配置模式。     

欧洲共同农业支持政策经验及其对中国的启示

欧洲共同农业支持政策对于欧洲国家的经济增长和社会福利的改善发挥了重要作用,而且这种作用在随着其共同农业支持政策的完善而不断自我强化。欧洲共同农业支持政策主要包括共同农产品价格支持体系、共同农业市场组织、共同农业公共服务政策支持体系、共同农业财税、农业信贷和保险支持体系等。我国作为一个人口众多的发展中大国,很有必要借鉴欧洲共同农业政策及其相关财税金融政策的经验,在今后的工作中应重视农业结构调整政策在我国农业结构优化升级中的作用、进一步强化财政金融支农的政策支持力度和保持农业支持政策的连续性和与时俱进性。     

略论毛泽东农村文化建设思想及当代启示

毛泽东的农村文化建设思想从发表《湖南农民运动考察报告》时开始萌芽,经过《农村调查》和《第二次苏维埃全国大会上的报告》的发展,到第一届全国人民政治协商会议阶段基本成熟。扫除文盲是毛泽东农村文化建设思想的基础和根本保障。毛泽东农村文化建设思想的目的是通过强调团结的力量和集体的利益,最终号召广大农民积极投身新中国的社会主义建设。毛泽东农村文化建设思想对当今新农村文化建设有重要启示。     

后金融危机时代苏州城市产业竞争力提升的机遇及对策

长三角沿海开放城市是中国经济发展的火车头,要实现城市经济可持续发展,就必须高度重视城市产业竞争力的提升,积极调整经济结构,实现经济转型,不断提高城市产业竞争力的水平。苏州经济以外向型产业集群为主,受到了金融危机的较大冲击,城市产业竞争力提升面临很大不确定性。苏州人将这种不确定性当成城市产业竞争力提升的机遇,并在产业竞争力提升方面取得了很大的成功,对长三角地区其他城市产业竞争力提升具有实践借鉴意义。