Lead-farmer extension and smallholder valuation of new agricultural technologies in Tanzania

Encouraging the widespread adoption and use of new on-farm technologies is an important part of productivity-led strategies to promote agricultural transformation. While many interventions have been designed to promote adoption through extension and education, little is known about how these efforts influence farmer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for new technologies. We use a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism to elicit farmer WTP for two improved seed varieties and a new seed treatment product, Apron Star, under two different lead-farmer extension treatments in Tanzania: (i) a demonstration plot showcasing the technologies within a village; and (ii) a demonstration plot coupled with distribution of trial packs enabling some farmers to test the technologies on their own land. In the BDM, farmers were presented with six products – the two bean varieties: without Apron Star, with Apron Star already applied, and with a sachet of Apron Star for the farmer to treat the seed him/herself. Our results suggest that neither extension treatment significantly affects WTP for these technologies. However, we find that farmers are willing to pay more for seed that is pre-treated with Apron Star than for seed bundled with a sachet of Apron Star for self-treatment.     

Returns to public sector plant breeding in the presence of spill‐ins and private goods: the case of bean research in Michigan

This article illustrates a methodology for assessing economic returns to a publicly funded breeding program in the presence of private sector investments, and spill‐ins from other contemporary public institutions and past research efforts. The approach consists of determining yield gains from bean improvement research; applying these yield gain estimates to measure benefits attributable to different institutional players and time periods; and then assessing the benefit‐cost ratios of investments in a bean improvement program since 1980 by Michigan State University (MSU). The results indicate that investments in MSU's bean breeding program have yielded benefits to costs ratio in the range of 0.7 to 2.2, depending on the attribution rule used to estimate the benefits. The estimated benefit/cost ratios reported in this study are lower‐bound estimates, as they do not account for potential benefits from area planted to MSU varieties outside of Michigan (spillover effects), which was 1.5 times greater than the area planted to MSU‐bred varieties within Michigan in the period 1998–2002. The implications of the increasingly privatized bean seed markets for the role of public sector research in bean improvement research are discussed.     

改进的非上市公司经济增加值计算模型

经济增加值不仅是一种财务指标,更是一种管理的进步。对经济增加值指标的良好的运用可以提高企业激励机制的效果。本文针对非上市公司EVA计算困难的实际情况提出了改进的EVA计算模型来解决非上市公司EVA难以计算的问题。     

环境规制、产业结构与海洋经济绿色转型

积极推进海洋经济绿色转型是实现海洋经济高质量发展和建设海洋强国的必然要求.本文通过构建海洋经济绿色转型评价体系,研究环境规制对海洋经济绿色转型的传导机制,并应用中介效应模型对2006-2016年11个沿海地区的面板数据进行实证分析.研究发现:环境规制通过促进产业结构升级进而最终促进海洋经济绿色转型.此外还进一步进行了中...     

Demand for improved fish feed in the presence of a subsidy: a double hurdle application in Kenya

Fish farming households’ demand for improved fish feed from the private market in Kenya is potentially influenced by the government's feed subsidy program. This article applies the double‐hurdle model to a cross‐section of fish farms to analyze demand for improved fish feed from private markets, and whether the government feed subsidy program has an effect on private demand for improved feed. The results indicate that households’ decisions to participate in the improved feed market are affected by the quantity of improved feed received from the government. Once the participation decision has been made, we find evidence of crowding‐in of the private improved feed sector; that is, the government's allocations of subsidized feed appear to increase private sector demand. In addition, the price of improved feed negatively affects the quantity purchased as expected. Education, extension contacts, and ease of marketing matured fish increase household propensity to purchase improved feed commercially. Policies that help reduce the price of improved feed such as reduction in tariffs on imported feeds and feed ingredients will foster demand for the feed, as will policies that facilitate marketing of fish at reasonable prices by households.     

基于改进模糊综合评价模型的区域科技创新能力评估——以河南省为例

针对目前区域科技创新能力评价研究中存在的问题,依据模糊数学理论,构造了一种改进的多层次模糊综合评价模型。通过建立区域科技创新能力评价指标体系,利用改进的模糊综合评价模型对河南省的区域科技创新能力进行了综合评价。实证结果表明,该模型不但可以在整体上对河南的科技创新能力进行综合评价,而且能够从不同侧面反映河南省科技创新的优势和劣势,具有较好的科学性和实用性,是一种评估区域科技创新能力的有效方法。     

电子及通信设备制造企业R&D国际化评估——基于在华外资企业面板数据的实证研究

从R&D资金、机构、活动、产出国际化四个层面构建了电子及通信设备制造业R&D国际化评估的指标体系,并根据其在华外资企业的面板数据,运用改进的"拉开档次法"对其R&D国际化水平进行评估及比较分析,认为要提升我国电子及通信设备制造企业R&D国际化水平应在战略规划、人才培养及产业倾斜政策等方面加以改进。     

广东省良种补贴绩效分析

本文概述了广东省良种补贴政策的实施情况,对由广东省农业厅和华南农业大学经济管理学院组成的调研组在广东省内韶关、清远、梅州、河源、湛江、茂名共6个市开展的问卷调查进行分析,共回收501份有效问卷。调查结果表明农村务农劳动力中中老年人占绝对主体,农民的受教育程度偏低;农民对良种补贴政策比较满意,对其认知情况良好,希望该政策能够保持且加大力度实行;大多数农民认为良种补贴政策有利于提高自身的种粮积极性和粮食产量,并提高和稳定他们的种植收入。同时,农民也认为良种补贴政策主要存在补贴金额不足和良种补贴品种单一这两个不足之处。     

Agricultural technology adoption and child nutrition enhancement: improved maize varieties in rural Ethiopia

Adoption of improved crop varieties can lead to multiple benefits to farm households, including increased productivity, incomes, and food consumption. However, possible impacts of adoption on child nutrition outcomes are rarely explored in the literature. This article helps bridge this gap through an impact assessment of the adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) on child nutrition outcomes using a recent household survey from rural Ethiopia. The conceptual linkage between IMV adoption and child nutrition is first established using an agricultural household model. Instrumental variable estimation suggests the overall impacts of adoption on child height‐for‐age and weight‐for‐age z‐scores to be positive and significant. Quantile instrumental variable regressions further reveal that such impacts are largest among children with poorest nutrition outcomes. Finally, by combining a decomposition procedure with system of equations estimation, it is found that the increase in own‐produced maize consumption is the major channel through which IMV adoption affects child nutrition.     

“We Learnt that Being Together Would Give us a Voice”: Gender Perspectives on the East African Improved-Cookstove Value Chain

ABSTRACT

Improved cookstoves (ICS) have been promoted for several decades, with little success. Advocates looking to drive uptake encourage greater involvement of women in ICS enterprises, on the largely unproven premise that women’s participation in the value chain will enhance their financial bottom line while giving a boost to ICS sales. This paper tests the validity of that premise, using qualitative evidence from East Africa. The analysis shows gender-differentiated outcomes for enterprises across the value chain. Women-led enterprises are significantly underrepresented at higher levels of the chain, where sales volumes are highest. Value-chain positioning also influences access to key inputs like finance, potentially reinforcing the gender divide in enterprise performance. The findings challenge the dominant narrative in the ICS field about the inevitability of the link between market participation and economic empowerment for women and indicate a need to look beyond conventional market models to enhance financial outcomes for women.