Is fertiliser use inconsistent with expected profit maximization in sub‐Saharan Africa? “Evidence from Nigeria”

This article revisits a conventional wisdom that inorganic fertiliser use across sub‐Saharan Africa is too low. This expectation that more farmers should be using inorganic fertiliser, and at higher rates, implies it is profitable to use rates higher than observed if farmers are rational expected profit maximisers. We obtain consistent estimates of the effects of applied nitrogen on rice production. We find the yield response to applied nitrogen to be low in the main rice growing farming system. Farmer behaviour is not inconsistent with expected profitability which is limited by a low yield response to applied fertiliser, high transportation costs, and low selling prices for rice in rural areas. In particular, we do not find any farmers for whom applied nitrogen is profitable that are not using fertiliser in the study sample for each of our survey years (2010 and 2012).     

Risk Behaviours and Grazing Land Management: A Framed Field Experiment and Linkages to Range Land Condition

We use a framed field experiment considering hypothetical stocking rate decisions made by grazing enterprise managers and estimate non‐linear multinomial logit models for a range of nested non‐expected utility and expected utility models. The risk and decision‐bias parameters for five models estimated for individual responses are shown to be significantly related to land condition but in ways which suggest behavioural aspects of decision making are critical in understanding land management and stocking rate decisions. Our results show that individual heterogeneity in decision making amongst farming groups is likely to be a significant source of variation in farming intensity and technology adoption decisions. This heterogeneity does not appear to be a reflection of socio‐demographic characteristics. Furthermore, decision functions appear to be biased toward selection of simpler representative functions (e.g. Expected Utility) for sample averages. This suggests that experimental findings that Expected Utility is representative for actual decisions may be due to sample averaging rather than reflect actual behaviour.     

重大水利工程项目决策社会稳定风险评估中的公众参与博弈

为改善重大水利工程项目决策社会稳定风险评估中公众参与现状,从社会稳定风险评估3个主要利益主体——中央政府、地方政府与公众不同的利益诉求出发,运用演化博弈模型,探讨在不同利益诉求的相互作用下影响地方政府与公众在社会稳定风险评估中策略选择的因素。研究发现,当公众受到的损失大于参与付出的成本时,双方稳定均衡状态均表现积极,反之,双方可能均表现为消极或积极这两种截然不同的状态。基于此,分析了中央政府对地方政府和公众在社会稳定风险评估博弈中策略选择的影响。最后,提出应加大对地方政府的支持、规范公众参与相关制度、加大教育培训及宣传力度、创新公众参与方式几项政策建议。     

栀子花期低温冷害风险区划研究——以湖北蕲春为例

[目的]确定栀子花期低温冷害指标,研究栀子花期低温冷害风险区划方法,以蕲春县为例开展栀子花期低温冷害风险区划,为蕲春栀子种植提供参考。[方法]利用湖北省蕲春县1990~2010年栀子产量资料及同期气象观测资料,通过统计分析冷害持续日数、冷害期间日平均气温20℃累积危害积温、极端最低气温、降温幅度等指标与栀子产量的关系,建立了栀子花期低温冷害损失模型。以20℃累积危害积温为指标,以损失率5%、10%、30%为阈值,确定了栀子花期轻度、中度、重度、严重冷害分级标准,然后利用蕲春县1:25万数字高程模型及蕲春县逐日平均气温、最低气温观测资料,推算网格点1959~2010年5月1~20日逐日最低气温、平均气温,构建冷害风险指数,计算各网格点的冷害风险指数,进行了蕲春县栀子冷害气候风险区划。[结果]蕲春县西部低山区栀子花期冷害风险较小,适宜栀子种植;400m以上的山区冻害风险大,种植栀子只开花不结果。[结论]栀子花期低温冷害风险区划结果在蕲春栀子种植基地规划中有一定参考意义。     

林业收储在林权抵押贷款信用风险控制中作用研究

研究采用担保理论,通过实地考察福建省林业收储运作情况获取资料,基于控制林权抵押贷款信用风险的视角研究林业收储的作用;指出林权是林权抵押贷款关键的信用风险因素,但是,存在安全性与流动性风险等问题;介绍了林业收储运作流程并讨论了林业收储控制林权抵押贷款信用风险的路径,认为林业收储降低了抵押林权的真实性与变现性风险;指出林业收储存在过于依赖财政拨款、规模较小与缺乏合理的保值增值机制等局限性,林业收储无法从根本上化解林权抵押贷款中尚存在的抵押林权的安全性、流动性等风险;提出引入社会资本,建立政府财政收购机制,优化林权抵押贷款生态环境等建议。     

Perspectives on Natural Resources in the Global Economy: Polity Series Review

Polity's ‘Resources’ series is a set of scholarly books, each of them dealing with a single resource or resource‐based commodity from a generally global or international perspective. As of this writing, nine books have been published in the series, six of which I review here. The series is a welcome contribution to interdisciplinary and overall critical perspectives on the social and environmental dimensions and implications of the international appropriation, production and exchange of natural resources. While there is no clear disciplinary bent or theoretical foundation running across the volumes, together the books develop a transnational perspective, stressing the linkages between specific sites of appropriation and production, on the one hand, and broader political economic networks of processing, finance, coordination, commercial distribution and social regulation, on the other. The books should serve as valuable references to researchers in academic, government and non‐government institutional settings, but should also prove valuable for undergraduate teaching on contemporary natural resource industries and their social regulation.     

Adoption of farm‐based irrigation water‐saving techniques in the Guanzhong Plain,China

This article analyses adoption of farm‐based irrigation water saving techniques, based on a cross‐sectional data set of 357 farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, China. Approximately 83% of the farmers use at least one farm‐based water‐saving technique. However, the traditional, inefficient techniques border and furrow irrigation are still prevalent whereas the use of advanced, more efficient techniques is still rather rare. We develop and estimate an adoption model consisting of two stages: awareness of water scarcity and intensity of adoption. We find that awareness of water scarcity and financial status enhance adoption of more advanced techniques whereas access to better community‐based irrigation infrastructure discourages it. We furthermore find both community‐based irrigation infrastructure and farm‐based irrigation water‐saving techniques have mitigating effects on production risk. From the results it follows that adoption can be stimulated via financial support and via extension aimed at enhancing awareness of water scarcity.     

Predicting uncertainty: the impact of risk measurement on value of real estate portfolios

This paper presents a theoretical framework for an assessment and valuation of real estate assets and funds, based on modern stochastic discounted cash flow (DCF) models, which accurately captures the nature of related risks. We show that an accurate risk-adjusted valuation is particularly difficult for real estate investments, due to practical limits to diversification and difficulties in approximating total risk with systematic risk. We develop a risk assessment framework that includes idiosyncratic risk but focuses on insolvency risk related to a specific cash flow profile. We also present a methodology of rating this risk, using forecasts and simulations. We conclude that simulation techniques are a valuable tool in property risk assessment. Further, we show that cost of capital and value of assets depend on diversification of specific risks, investors can achieve in their portfolios.     

基于OECD 国家面板数据的金融风险影响 因素研究

本文选取1980~2013年OECD 28个国家经济与金融的样本数据,采用面板logit模型对这些国家金融风险的影响因素进行逐步回归分析。结果显示,GDP增长率、经常账户余额占GDP比率以及总储备占GDP的比率对OECD国家金融风险的影响是负向的,即随着它们的增长,金融风险产生的概率减小;汇率对OECD国家金融风险的影响是正向的,即随着汇率的增长,金融风险产生的概率增大。     

Guanxi,political connections and resource acquisition in Chinese publicly listed private sector firms

In this study, we examined the role of guanxi as entrepreneurs’ resource-obtaining mechanism in private sector firms, using a data-set of 184 publicly listed firms in China. We found that guanxi indeed played a positive role that helped private sector firms gain easier access to resources. We also found that guanxi exerted even a greater positive effect on private sector firms’ resource obtaining compared to entrepreneurs’ political participation, due to being the lifeblood of business conduct and social interaction in Chinese culture.