Maritime connectivity and agricultural trade

Seaborne shipping is the dominant mode of transport in international trade in agricultural products, and an increasing part of seaborne agricultural trade is carried in containers. Furthermore, the majority of world containers are moved through liner shipping services, that is, regular transport services provided by global shipping companies which comprise a dense network connecting ports and countries around the world. Using a theoretically consistent gravity equation and a novel identification strategy based on the use of intra-national trade flows, this paper investigates the effect of liner shipping connectivity on international trade in agricultural products. The results show that liner shipping connectivity has a positive and statistically significative effect on agricultural trade. Moreover, this positive effect can be observed for the majority of the agricultural products analysed and is also identified for countries at different stages of development. These findings appear especially relevant in terms of the objective of increasing less developed countries' participation in global agricultural trade.     

湖南省研发投入的空间格局与创新协调发展对策

以湖南省14个市州为研究对象,运用首位度分析、ESDA探索性空间数据分析方法,研究湖南省各市州的研发投入(R&D经费、R&D人员投入)空间差异变化趋势和空间分异特征。结果表明:①湖南省内各市州R&D经费投入差距在逐渐缩小,但R&D人员投入差距在逐渐增大;②湖南省的R&D经费及R&D人员投入在各个市州之间存在明显的空间依赖及空间集聚现象,并在西部、南部周边市州呈现出大面积的低水平连片聚集特征;③湖南省R&D投入的空间演变特征并不显著,长株潭作为省会中心城市圈缺乏辐射带动力。研究最后提出了湖南省科技创新协同发展的对策建议。     

贫困地区新农村建设与劳动力转移互动的途径选择和对策分析——以甘肃省为例

农村劳动力转移对新农村建设既有正面效应,又有负面效应,二者之间互为条件,互相制约,互促互进。为此,协调处理好农村劳动力转移与新农村建设之间的关系是发展的必要。文章结合甘肃省贫困地区农村劳动力转移与新农村建设的实际情况,探析了其新农村建设与劳动力转移互动的途径选择和对策。     

多个大股东治理机制的有效性——基于制度环境的分析

结合制度环境深入考察了多个大股东的行为选择及其作为一种治理机制的有效性问题,我们发现,多个大股东的公司治理作用只有在特定的制度环境下才是有效的,而在制度环境很不完善的条件下,外部大股东的监督是不存在或者说多个大股东的公司治理作用是无效的。     

Land pressures,the evolution of farming systems,and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis

Evidence assembled in this special issue of Food Policy shows that rising rural population densities in parts of Africa are profoundly affecting farming systems and the region’s economies in ways that are underappreciated in current discourse on African development issues. This study synthesizes how people, markets and governments are responding to rising land pressures in Africa, drawing on key findings from the various contributions in this special issue. The papers herein revisit the issue of Boserupian agricultural intensification as an important response to land constraints, but they also go further than Boserup and her followers to explore broader responses to land constraints, including non-farm diversification, migration, and reduced fertility rates. Agricultural and rural development strategies in the region will need to more fully anticipate the implications of Africa’s rapidly changing land and demographic situation, and the immense challenges that mounting land pressures pose in the context of current evidence of unsustainable agricultural intensification, a rapidly rising labor force associated with the region’s current demographic conditions, and limited nonfarm job creation. These challenges are manageable but will require explicit policy actions to address the unique development challenges in densely populated rural areas.     

美、德农业社会化服务提供的启示

美国的农业社会化服务主要由三个部分组成：农业公共服务体系、集体农业服务体系和私人农业服务体系。公司＋农场、公司＋农户以及合作供销是美国农业社会化服务的三种形式。德国的农业社会化服务体系在于农业专业合作社组织的成功发展,尤其是健全的农村金融服务体系,由一个具有三级层次结构的分权型组织组成,通过立法和提供一些优惠政策,政府在服务体系中起了重要作用。我国农业社会化服务体系的组成和服务形式与美、德十分相似,在推动农村经济发展方面却有一定差异,美国和德国农业社会化服务的经验对中国农业社会化服务的发展具有重要启示。     

河北省中小企业发展对策研究

近几年河北省中小企业经济发展迅速,已成为推动其经济增长的主要力量。但是,不可否认的是河北省中小企业在持续发展中仍存在着较多的障碍及其制约因素。因此,应从优化产业布局、调整产业结构、加强社会化服务体系、严格企业管理制度以及加强中小企业人才队伍建设等方面提出相应对策,以期推动河北省中小企业更加健康地发展。     

基于水—能—粮关联关系的粮食主产区农业种植结构优化研究——以吉林省为例

[目的]通过调整农业种植结构,优化水资源、能源及土地资源配置,在生态优先绿色发展的要求下实现区域粮食生产目标。[方法]文章选取吉林省为研究区域,采用水足迹模型和能耗核算模型解析主要农作物的耗水及耗能特点,并以区域的经济和生态效益为目标,构建以土地资源、水资源、能源、粮食安全、农业政策作为约束条件的多目标规划模型对种植结构进行优化。[结果]（1）不同农作物的水足迹、能耗结构以及资源利用效率存在显著差异。（2）优化后的耕种总面积略有增加,玉米种植面积比例明显下降,小麦和烤烟种植面积比例基本稳定,其余作物种植面积比例均有不同程度的上升。（3）优化后各类效益均有明显提升,其中水足迹减少5.02%,能耗减少5.96%,生物质能增长26.14%,粮食产量增加5.27%,经济效益提高34.38%,生态效益提高18.69%。[结论]充分考虑农业种植中水、能源和粮食的关联关系以及内外部的多种约束条件,在保障各类作物的最低产量前提下,优先发展低耗水、低耗能、低污染、高收益的作物,提高资源利用效率的同时改善区域农业生产的经济收益和生态效益,实现区域农业的可持续发展。