Productivity and Producer Welfare in the Presence of Production Risk

Production risk is an inherent characteristic of agriculture and changes in production risk will affect the welfare of risk‐averse producers. Using standard concepts from the literature on uncertainty, we introduce a welfare measure which comprises total factor productivity (TFP), production risk and farmer risk preferences, and which reflects the impact on producer welfare of changes in production technology. An empirical application is carried out using data from a sample of Spanish dairy farms which shows how the positive impact of increases in TFP on welfare can be offset by increases in the risk premium (‘cost of risk’) to the point where welfare may decrease.     

The effects of Mongolia's booming mining industry on its agricultural sector: A test for Dutch disease

Dutch disease occurs when currency strengthening associated with a booming sector of an economy crowds out a lagging trade‐dependent sector. In this study, a Keynesian‐style model is specified to deduce hypotheses about how increased foreign direct investment (FDI) aimed at Mongolia's mining sector affects its agricultural sector. A key finding is that while econometric results suggest the increased FDI strengthened Mongolia's currency, its adverse effect on Mongolia's trade‐sensitive agricultural sector is not sufficiently strong to cause the sector to decline. Although Dutch disease was not detected, the posited mechanism clearly is important. Specifically, when currency strengthening is ignored the reduced‐form elasticity of agricultural value‐added with respect to FDI is 2.7 times larger than when currency strengthening is taken into account (0.103 vs. 0.038). Also, FDI‐induced currency strengthening causes the Keynesian multiplier to drop from 2.40 to 2.00 and the FDI multiplier to drop from 3.05 to 1.89.     

浅析科研财务助理制度

[目的]通过分析现行种粮农户耕地流转的基本特点,探讨如何完善现有耕地流转政策,以适应耕地流转的新趋势和新要求.[方法]文章利用河南、黑龙江、四川、浙江等4省调查数据,主要采用描述性统计方法进行分析.[结果]农户耕地流转率逐年上升,经营规模1.33hm2以下的农户比重显著下降;耕地流转主要方式是流转双方自由协商,以口头协议为主,租金以现金为主;针对农业规模经营的地方补贴省际差异较大.[结论](1)土地流转、集中呈快速发展态势,但是省际差异明显,其中2012~2014年4省样本村耕地流转率均呈快速发展的态势, 2011~2015年经营规模在1.33hm2以上的农户显著增加;(2)样本村耕地流转基本上遵循了依法、自愿、有偿的原则,农户之间的土地流转主要以自发形式为主,以熟人关系为纽带,是嵌入农村社会关系网络之中的,符合我国乡土社会差序格局的传统;(3)4省针对规模经营、土地流转的补贴总体不足,并且省际之间补贴差异较大.     

甘肃省耕地质量等别特征与空间分布研究

[目的]摸清甘肃省耕地质量空间分布地区差异,整体把握全省耕地质量状况,以期为耕地保护策略制定提供参考依据。[方法]文章基于Arc GIS 10.0软件,以2015年耕地质量等别更新评价县级数据和省级汇总数据为主,采用克里格空间插值法研究了省域范围内耕地质量的空间格局,采用对比研究法、分类统计法分析了全省、各市州及各区域的耕地质量状况。[结果](1)甘肃省存在4个中等质量耕地分布区域。自然质量等别、利用等别和经济等别下的中等质量等值区逐渐缩小:在陇南逐步向东南方向缩进,在河西走廊逐步由张掖向西北缩进,在兰州白银一带由带状区域缩小至零星区块;(2)全省耕地质量分布在8~15等,平均为13.1等,比全国耕地平均等别低3.1等;(3)各市(州)和各二级区耕地质量等别差异明显,中等地主要分布在河西走廊地区,低等地集中在陇东和陇中地区。[结论]甘肃省耕地质量等别总体偏低,基于耕地质量的耕地保护策略值得决策部门进一步关注,应持续研究耕地质量随时间的变化态势并在评价过程中考虑"土壤污染"因素。     

Land outsourcing and labour contracting: Labour management in China's capitalist farms

Difficulty in labour supervision has been considered to be one of the obstacles to the development of capitalist agriculture. This paper presents two distinctive labour management strategies in China's large‐scale agriculture, which contribute to the development of agrarian capitalism in China. As shown in these cases, agribusiness companies engaged in grain crop production retreat from direct labour management by outsourcing crop cultivation, while acquiring profits from upstream and downstream activities. On the other hand, capitalist producers, who are involved in the labour‐intensive and capital‐intensive crop production, tend to mobilize local elites to manage the farmworkers. Although independent labour contracting services have not emerged, a specialized group of labour contractors is being cultivated. Rural social resources are utilized in labour recruitment and supervision to minimize the labour management costs in both strategies. However, the conflicts between capital and labour are covered or replaced instead of being settled.     

Methodological Advances in DEA: A survey and an application for the Dutch electricity sector

We survey the methodological advances in DEA over the last 25 years and discuss the necessary conditions for a sound empirical application. We hope this survey will contribute to the further dissemination of DEA, the knowledge of its relative strengths and weaknesses, and the tools currently available for exploiting its full potential. Our main points are illustrated by the case of the DEA study used by the regulatory office of the Dutch electricity sector (Dienst Toezicht Elektriciteitswet; Dte) for setting price caps.     

退耕还林政策对吴起县农民收入影响的实证分析

基于C—D生产函数模型思路,运用索洛增长方程式,对陕西吴起县退耕还林后农民收入的增长情况进行了分析,重点分析了退耕还林政策对吴起县农业生产各要素收入弹性的影响,结论是吴起县的退耕还林政策有效的改善了各生产要素的收入弹性,从而显著地提高了农民收入。     

The effect of natural gas discoveries in Israel on the strength of its currency

In light of the natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea and their impact on the Israeli economy, I must assess the change in the exchange rate and its impact on the foreign exchange market. There are numerous positive social impacts resulting from the gas discoveries including optimising Israel's energy security and its move to cleaner energy. However, not all of the consequences of discovering natural resources may be positive. One possibly negative outcome could be the well-known phenomenon called the “Dutch disease” in which the discovery of a natural resource can cause a country's currency to spike. To investigate whether the strengthening of the Israeli currency in recent years is a symptom of the “Dutch disease” I used daily and intraday event study methodology to explore the changes in the real exchange rate of the Israeli shekel and the US dollar between 2008 and 2017, according to announcements related to the gas discoveries published during this period. In addition, I examined whether an increase in the real exchange rate was a result of the publication of announcements about natural gas harming the manufacturing and industrial sectors. I found that announcements related to gas discoveries did affect the real exchange rate and caused an appreciation of the Israeli shekel. Investors could analyse the announcements and achieve an abnormal return in the foreign exchange market. In addition, investors' expectations of an appreciation in the real exchange rate causes damage to various manufacturing and industrial sectors.     

Remittances and the Dutch Disease: Evidence from Panel Data for 18 Developing Countries

In this paper, using the GMM technique we attempt to empirically investigate the Dutch disease effect of remittances. The analyses are based on an annual balanced panel data set for 18 developing countries, which have remittances to GDP ratio of 5 percent and above, over the years 1999–2015. It is found that an inflow of remittances has a positive effect on economic growth, whereas it leads to a depreciation of the real effective exchange rate.