An economic approach to soil fertility management for wheat production in north-eastern Australia

Soil fertility decline and soil management for crop production are important economic issues for grain growers in north-eastern Australia. In that region, there is evidence of soil fertility decline which is attributed to past crop management practices. The questions addressed in this article are first, whether components of soil fertility can be improved by better management and second, by how much soil fertility would change. Soil fertility for crop production is considered in terms of soil organic carbon and nitrogen. A stochastic dynamic economic analysis of soil fertility management for wheat production is presented. A sequential analysis of first deriving the optimal nitrogen stock and application rates is followed by an assessment of tillage, stubble, and fertilizer strategies to obtain an optimal level of soil organic carbon. The recommended management practices are consistent with emerging management trends in the region. The derivation of optimal levels of soil fertility for agricultural purposes has other policy implications, which we discuss.     

Impacts in Uganda of rising global food prices: the role of diversified staples and limited price transmission

This study assesses the potential impact of rising world food prices on the welfare of Ugandan households. While Uganda experienced sharply higher food prices in 2008, as a landlocked, food‐exporting country the causes of those price changes were mainly regional and indirect rather than directly transmitted from global markets. Using trade volumes, food prices, and household survey data we describe how Uganda, unlike some other countries, is partially shielded from direct impacts of global food price movements. Although the majority of Ugandans are net food buyers, the adverse impact at household‐level of rising global prices is moderated by the relatively large quantity and range of staples consumed that come from home production. Moreover, several of these are not widely traded. Some population groups in Uganda are vulnerable to rising food prices, however, primarily those for whom maize is an important staple, including those dependent upon humanitarian relief and the urban poor. Only a relatively small group of Ugandan households will benefit directly and immediately from rising food prices—the significant net sellers of food crops constituting between 12% and 27% of the population. In this assessment we do not estimate the level and extent of wider second round effects from these higher prices.     

Does employment before marriage exert autonomy after marriage? Evidence on female autonomy from India

This paper examines the determinants of female autonomy using data from India. We model female autonomy for movement as well as economic decision-making using a summative index approach. Our contributions to the literature include a careful examination of the regional differences, tests of economic and sociological hypotheses on female autonomy and the use of pre-marriage autonomy measures in terms of employment status to determine post-marriage autonomy. Our results suggest that economic, sociological and pre-marriage autonomy factors explain female autonomy. Regional differences regarding the economic, sociological and pre-marriage autonomy factors play a role in determining female autonomy.     

The effects of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program on agricultural households

In the late 1990s, China aimed to mitigate environmental degradation from agricultural production activities by introducing the world's largest “Payments for Environmental Services? program: the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). We develop a microeconomic Agricultural Household Model, which can model the production, consumption, and nonfarm labor supply decisions of agricultural households in rural China in a theoretically consistent fashion. Based on this theoretical model, we derive an empirical specification, which we econometrically estimate using the Hausman–Taylor method and a large longitudinal farm household data set. The empirical results significantly differ between regions, but are generally consistent with the results of our theoretical comparative static analysis, for example, that the SLCP significantly decreases agricultural production. While the SLCP only increases nonfarm labor supply and total consumption in some regions, these effects could not be observed in others. The recent reduction of the SLCP compensation payment rates generally had negligible effects on agricultural production and off‐farm work and only very small effects on household consumption.     

The regional wage gap in the Spanish hospitality sector based on a gender perspective

In this work we estimate human capital returns in the Spanish hospitality sector using an expanded version of the Mincer wage equation (1974). In addition, wage differences in the main tourist regions are quantified using the wage decomposition of Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) from a gender perspective. Using data from the 2006 Spanish Wage Structure Survey (Encuesta de Estructura Salarial), all the regions under analysis show lower education returns in the hospitality sector when compared to other private services. The same results are found for the other human capital variables used. There are significant differences in education returns between regions, especially in Catalonia and the Canary Islands. The main wage gap in the Canary Islands and the Madrid region is due to differences in returns in the observed variables, whereas in other regions most of the differences are due to the resources allocated. Furthermore, gender wage differences are found in all the regions. The largest estimated wage gap between men and women occurs in the Balearic Islands followed by Catalonia and the Community of Valencia. In contrast, equality between genders is greater in the Community of Madrid.     

The Media's Role in Influencing Perceptions of Housing Values and the Resulting Impact on the Macroeconomy

The housing market is a major component of the economy and persistent negative media reports can adversely affect perceptions and expectations of homeowners as to the value of their home. As a result, households reduce their expenditures and increase their savings in an effort to rebuild lost wealth. In the short run the economy suffers and the recession is magnified. This paper demonstrates, through an empirical study, how negative media reports regarding the deteriorating conditions of the national housing market affects what households feel their housing is worth.     

DEVELOPMENT PRESSURES AND HERITAGE IN THE PERTH CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, 1950–90

This article examines the remaking of Perth's Central Business District (CBD) during the 1950–90 period. It traces the establishment of a modernist development ethos in Perth's planning, outlines the inadequacy of the City's planning regulations, and analyses the impact on St George's Terrace, the city's main commercial thoroughfare. The City Council was largely incapable of restraining excessive development and the extension of its system of plot ratios encouraged manipulation to increase the height of developments. Several important historic buildings were demolished because there were no legal means of safeguarding the city's heritage until 1990.     

韩国应对劳工短缺的政策选择及其对中国的借鉴

劳工短缺现象已成为东亚许多国家的普遍问题。这个问题并不是经济自发调节便可消除的暂时现象,如长期持续下去,将对各国的产品出口以及经济发展构成严重的制约。韩国自20世纪80年代末起便开始了对劳工短缺问题的调查研究,积累了大量的文献与实践经验。在描述韩国劳工短缺现状的基础上,探讨其成因并介绍韩国政府对此问题所采取的措施及实施效果。提出了对解决我国劳工短缺问题的可借鉴之处。     

Where Should the Elderly Live and Who Should Pay for Their Care?*

We consider a model with a population consisting of earners and retired persons; elderly care is publicly provided. There is one big city, where congestion effects and agglomeration forces are at work, and a number of small villages. We show how the externalities related to population mobility lead to an inefficient spatial distribution of earners and retirees, and we characterize the second‐best solution. Decentralization of this solution in a fiscal federalism structure requires the use of taxes and subsidies proportional to the number of earners and retired persons living in the city and the villages.     

人力资本存量、R&D投资与中国工业增长转型

工业是中国当前三大产业中的支柱产业,工业增长模式的体制转轨很大程度上反映了中国经济增长模式的转轨方向和现状。文章借助1990年-2007年的统计数据进行计算和实证检验发现：中国工业企业从上世纪90年代初以依靠人力资本存量和物质资本存量积累的增长模式转变为新世纪以来以R＆D投资带来的技术进步和工业劳动力投入为主要产出支撑的新模式,虽然这种增长转轨并未彻底完成,但已经证明集约化增长模式将逐步成为中国经济可持续发展的主要途径。