Interlocked Village Markets and Trader Idiosyncrasy in Rural India

The role of traders and traditional exchange institutions has received little attention in empirical research on rural markets in developing countries. We use detailed data on transactions in a village commodity market in India and identify two observed anomalies: first, the repeal of the law of one price, and second, a trader‐idiosyncratic effect, namely that large volumes are sold to a trader who does not offer the best price. Econometric analysis demonstrates that trader idiosyncrasy can largely be explained by reciprocity motives in interlocked village markets. Reciprocity leads to market inefficiencies and can result in unexpected supply responses.     

World market integration for export and food crops in developing countries: a case study for Mali and Nicaragua

Using a generalized error correction model, this article measures and compares market integration for export cash crops versus imported food crops for Mali and Nicaragua, and computes transmission elasticities between changes in the goods’ border and domestic prices. Both Mali and Nicaragua obtain the bulk of their export revenue from a particular agricultural commodity—cotton for Mali and coffee for Nicaragua—and both import the same key staple food of rice. To reap the economic gains from this trade specialization, the two countries’ agriculture must be well‐integrated into world markets. The two countries present an important policy contrast that affects their degree of world market integration and price transmission. In Mali, a parastatal enterprise controls its cotton industry, while Nicaragua has less state direction over agriculture. Reflecting this difference, the results show that for both its main export and import commodity, Nicaragua is more integrated into world markets and has higher price transmission than Mali. The results for Nicaragua also show much higher integration and price transmission for its main agricultural export (coffee) than its major import (rice).     

Cash cropping and food crop productivity: synergies or trade‐offs?

The case for promoting export‐oriented cash crops in Africa has generally been based on their direct potential contribution to agricultural productivity and small farmer incomes. A relatively neglected avenue of research concerns the synergistic effects that cash cropping can have on other household activities, including food production. The conventional view that cash crops compete with food crops for land and labour neglects the potential for cash crop schemes to make available inputs on credit, management training, and other resources that can contribute to food crop productivity, which might otherwise not be accessible to farmers if they did not participate in cash crop programs. This article builds on previous research by hypothesising key pathways by which cash crops may affect food crop activities and empirically measuring these effects using the case of cotton in Gokwe North District in Zimbabwe. Analysis is based on instrumental variable analysis of survey data on 430 rural households in 1996. Results indicate that—after controlling for household assets, education and locational differences—households engaging intensively in cotton production obtain higher grain yields than non‐cotton and marginal cotton producers. We also find evidence of regional spill‐over effects whereby commercialisation schemes induce second round investments in a particular area that provide benefits to all farmers in that region, regardless of whether they engage in that commercialisation scheme. The study suggests that the potential spill‐over benefits for food crops through participation in cash crop programs are important to consider in the development of strategies designed to intensify African food crop production.     

中国棉花生产技术效率及其影响因素分析

深入分析我国棉花生产技术效率及其影响因素,对于稳定和提高棉花产量、保障国民经济健康发展有着重要意义.本文首先对我国12个主产省棉花生产的技术效率进行测算,并重点考察了其时序波动和地区差异特征;其次探讨了棉花生产技术效率的主要影响因素,通过构建计量模型,对可能的影响因素进行了回归分析.结果表明,2001-2009年,我国棉花生产技术效率的区域差异和时序波动特征明显,西北棉区技术效率最高且波动最小,其次是黄河流域棉区,长江流域棉区技术效率最低且波动最剧烈;适度规模经营、农民受教育程度、农业科技人员数量和非农产业发展对棉花生产的技术效率有正效应,非农人口比例和异常天气的负面影响较大.文章最后给出了相应的政策建议.     

工资性收入不平等：基于户籍歧视的分析

文章利用2012年中国城镇居民与流动人口收入调查数据,采用不同的工资分解方法,从地区分割、职业分割和收入阶层的角度测算并分析了户籍工资差异及户籍歧视情况。实证结果表明,户籍歧视在不同经济发展区域都存在;户籍歧视的加剧体现在工资歧视和就业歧视两方面;对于极低工资、低工资和较高工资的劳动者而言,户籍歧视带来的收入不平等问题相当严重。     

新疆棉花产业可持续发展的困境——以家庭为单位的经济学研究

棉花种植业在新疆区域经济发展中居于重要地位。日益突出的棉花种植、采收中的污染问题,水资源短缺与病虫害问题,棉花生产成本的上升、棉花收购价格风险的存在,以及棉花种植中形成的路径依赖,使新疆棉花生产的可持续发展面临严峻挑战。本文通过对2002年以来农户家庭棉花种植成本与收益变动趋势的分析,提出应加大棉花生产补贴力度,保证国家棉花生产安全;以生态农业生产促进新疆棉花产业的可持续发展。     

Price transmission,asymmetric adjustment and threshold effects in the cotton supply chain: a case study for Vidarbha,India

This study examines price transmission asymmetries in Vidarbha's (India) cotton supply chain from 2002 to 2012. The analysis takes account of thresholds in price adjustments toward their long‐run equilibrium. The first stage considers the price dynamics between international and Indian domestic cotton prices. The second stage considers price transmission from domestic to farm gate cotton prices in Vidarbha. Results from the first stage indicate that Indian and international cotton markets are well‐integrated. In contrast, the second stage reveals significant threshold‐type nonlinearities as well as asymmetries in price transmission between domestic and farm gate prices. The short‐run dynamics suggest that the pass‐through from domestic to farm gate prices is larger when domestic prices decrease than when they increase. Moreover, back of the envelope calculations suggest that the loss in revenue for a typical farmer from a decrease in domestic price is larger than the gains from an increase in domestic price of the same magnitude. The implication is that traders benefit from price fluctuations at the expense of farmers. Evidence from fieldwork in Vidarbha suggest that asymmetries revealed in this analysis may be linked to trader's market power and inadequate market information among farmers.     

我国棉花产业短期竞争行为的治理分析

近期,由于受国际金融危机的影响,我国棉花产业陷入了十分困难的境地,企业的短期竞争行为频繁发生。本文运用博弈论相关知识,分析了企业短期竞争行为的发生机理,进而指出了与棉花直接相关的棉花种植、收购、加工企业所组成的棉花产业的短期竞争行为发生的主要原因,并提出相应治理对策,以减少棉花产业的短期竞争行为。     

Institutional Environment and Technical Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Cotton Producers in West Africa

This paper examines the effects of the institutional environment on West African cotton farmers’ technical efficiency (TE). First, key aspects of the cotton sector institutional environment are discussed, including input and credit access, and producers’ organisations. Then, a stochastic frontier production function, which incorporates technical inefficiency effects, is applied to farm level data collected in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The survey includes farmers’ evaluations of the cotton sector institutional environment. Results suggest that institutional level features influence producers’ TE, besides farm‐level characteristics. Cotton growers who report a negative experience with the joint liability programme, who identify the cotton price mechanism or access to credit as the main constraints to performance, and who cultivate more hectares of cereals are technically more inefficient in producing cotton. Findings suggest that cotton farmers in Mali are less technically efficient in producing cotton than in Burkina Faso and Benin. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing farmers’ financial stress, particularly through the establishment of adequate price mechanisms (i.e. higher farm‐gate prices and timely payments to farmers) and improvement in the input–credit markets should be encouraged to improve TE in West Africa.     

进出口商品质量指数在进口棉花上的应用

为了评价进出口商品的综合质量水平,研究构建了进出口商品质量指数测评模型。统计历年来棉花检验检疫、通报退运、不合格货值等数据,通过对各相关指标的权重设置,选定一个基期,测算出进口棉花质量指数。再通过一个时期不间断的数据采集及分析,可以得知该时间周期内进口棉花质量水平的变化情况,并对不合格情况提出警示。研究结果可以提高检验检疫监管效能,有利于各级监管部门进行有效监管。