Will China's WTO accession worsen farm household incomes?

Many fear China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will impoverish its farmers via greater import competition in its agricultural markets. We explore that possibility bearing in mind that, even if producer prices of some (land-intensive) farm products fall, prices of other (labor-intensive) farm and nonfarm products could rise. New estimates, from the global, economy-wide numerical simulation model known as Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), of the likely changes in agricultural and other product prices as a result of WTO accession, are drawn on to examine empirically the real income implications of China's WTO accession. The results suggest farm–nonfarm income inequality may well rise within China but rural–urban income inequality need not. The article concludes with some policy suggestions for alleviating any pockets of farm household poverty that may emerge as a result of WTO accession.     

Got milk? The rapid rise of China’s dairy sector and its future prospects

This paper synthesizes recent research and new empirical findings to build a more comprehensive understanding of developments in China’s dairy sector. China’s tremendous rise in dairy demand has been driven by several mutually reinforcing factors: including rapid income growth, promotion by the government and dairy industry, changes in urban lifestyles, and the development of new, more sophisticated marketing channels. Domestic milk output has grown to satisfy rising demand largely by increasing the dairy herd. Substantial increases in productivity have been achieved through technology adoption, but there is evidence that the torrid growth has created inefficiencies because adaptations to marketing rules, infrastructure, and institutions have not kept pace with the changing environment. These results suggest there is ample room for future growth in both domestic milk production and dairy demand, but multinational firms and imported products will likely play and increasing role as China’s dairy market continues to develop.     

Emerging markets, evolving institutions, and the new opportunities for growth in China's rural economy

In this essay, our goal is to assess the state of China's rural economy and examine whether rural China is capable of participating in the sequence of economic events that will lead to modernization. We examine how agricultural productivity has changed, the nature of the shift of labor moving from rural to urban areas, how commodity markets have evolved, and how the rural industrial sector is adjusting the recent reforms. According to our own work and that of others, we show how the rural economy is beginning to be fundamentally transformed and is contributing to China's modernization.     

水资源管理制度改革、农业生产与反贫困

根据我们在黄河流域四个大型灌区的实证研究发现,传统上村级的集体水资源管理制度正在逐渐被用水协会和承包管理所代替.由于改革具有很明显的自上而下的特征,因而很多改革流于形式;而只有那些建立了有效节水激励机制的水资源管理制度才能实现节水的目标.我们进一步的实证研究表明,具有节水激励机制的水资源管理制度的改革会导致小麦单产的降低,但下会对玉米和水稻的单产以及农民收入产生显著影响,而且贫困状况也不会因此而恶化.     

村民自治、农村税费改革与农村公共投资

促进社会主义新农村建设的核心内容中包括农村民主建设和改善农村公共服务。本文通过对具有全国代表性调查数据的分析,通过研究村主任直接选举和农村税费改革对公共投资的影响后发现,村主任直接选举可以有效促进对农村公共投资的增加,但农村税费改革则在减轻了农民负担的同时对农村公共投资产生短期负面影响。研究建议上级政府应该进一步加大对农村的公共投资力度,同时进一步加强和完善农村村民自治和民主管理。     

The influence of risk preferences,knowledge, land consolidation,and landscape diversification on pesticide use

Researchers have spent substantial effort to identify factors influencing pesticide use intensity. However, few studies have compared the relative importance of these factors. This study examines four categories of factors that potentially influence farmers’ pesticide use decisions by evaluating incentivized experiment data, farm survey data, and remote sensing data in China. Our results suggest that land diversification has the largest effect on farmers’ pesticide use. Compared with the most rice-intensive landscape type, less rice-intensive systems cause farmers to spray less on middle rice. Heavy pesticide use intensity is associated with land fragmentation as small-scale farms still dominate crop production. Farmers’ integrated pest management knowledge has significant effects on pesticide use. We also find that loss and ambiguity preferences, rather than risk preferences, are more likely to affect pesticide use intensity.     

新一轮多哈贸易自由化对中国农业的影响

多哈贸易自由化对中国农业的影响一直存在很大争论。与以往的研究不同,本文应用一般均衡模型GTAP与局部均衡模型CAPSIM对接的方法测算新一轮多哈贸易自由化对中国农业的影响。研究显示,贸易自由化总体上对中国经济有正面的影响,只不过影响幅度很小,但农业部门会在多哈自由化中享受相对较大的贸易优势;从分产品的贸易和生产来看,粮食作物、果蔬等产品有正的影响,而对畜产品和食糖会有负的影响;虽然贸易自由化对中国农民收入来说只有很小的正面影响,但这种影响在不同收入组之间差别很大,其中高收入组农民要比低收入组农民受益更多,贸易自由化在一定程度上会使农民的贫富差距拉大。     

推广转基因抗虫棉对次要害虫农药施用的影响分析

本研究的主要目的是分析在转基因抗虫棉有效控制棉花主要害虫(棉铃虫)、减少农药施用之后,可能导致的对棉花次要害虫的影响。通过多年的棉农生产跟踪调查和计量模型分析,研究结果表明,近年来棉农用来控制次要害虫的农药施用量有所增加,应引起有关部门的重视,但它的农药施用量远远小于采用转基因抗虫棉后整体减少施用的农药量;研究还发现,转基因抗虫棉在控制主要害虫农药施用量的减少,不是导致次要害虫农药施用量增加的主要原因,它仅仅能解释次要害虫农药施用增加量的一小部分。     

Local governance and public goods provision in rural China

In developing countries, identifying the most effective community-level governance mode is a key issue in rural development; therefore, empirical evaluation of these different modes is desperately needed. Since the 1980s, tens of thousands of villages in rural China have held local government elections, providing a good opportunity to investigate the effect of democratization on the level of public goods provision. Using a recent village survey conducted over a significant period of time, this article compares two different governance modes. It finds that elections affect little on the size of revenue but significantly shift the distribution of taxation from individuals to enterprises if possible. However, privatization has made taxation or levies on rural enterprises more difficult. It also shows that elections and power sharing are conducive to improve the allocation of public expenditures.