Comparative output and labor productivity in manufacturing between China, Japan, Korea and the United States for ca. 1935 - A production-side PPP approach

Following the standard industry-of-origin methodology to measure production-side purchasing power parities (PPPs), this study for the first time provides a set of unit value ratios (UVRs) of manufacturing products between China, Japan, Korea and the US, based on which it derives PPP estimates for individual manufacturing industries for these East Asian countries with the US as the benchmark for ca. 1935. The estimated PPP for total manufacturing suggests that the relative level of the producer price in China, Japan and Korea was about half to two thirds of the prevailing market exchange rates, respectively. The estimated PPPs are used to calculate comparative output and labor productivity for individual industries of these countries for ca. 1935. It shows that the size of factory manufacturing in Japan was 12 percent of the US level and in China only about one percent of the US level. In terms of comparative labor productivity, measured as PPP$ per hour worked, Japanese and Korean manufacturing was 24 and 23 percent of the US level, whereas Chinese manufacturing was only 7 percent of the US level.     

供给侧生产端变化对中国粮食安全的影响研究

在“谷物基本自给、口粮绝对安全”的粮食安全战略背景下,粮食供给侧生产端对于保障中国粮食安全起到关键性作用。近年来,随着城镇化和农业现代化的推进,新型农业经营主体和土地规模化经营快速发展,粮食生产在质量效益和专业化水平不断提高的同时,其土地生产效率的提高和市场风险的防范面临挑战;粮食生产成本的攀升和比较收益的下降,使农业支持家庭生计的功能不断弱化,导致农户种粮意愿普遍降低;居民食物消费结构升级引致种植结构调整,使保障口粮绝对安全的政策成本上升。粮食生产主体结构与行为、生产成本与比较收益、供需匹配关系等生产端的重要变化,对粮食供给能力进而对国家粮食安全产生重要影响。为此,需要优化粮食安全目标,合理协调“保产量”与“优结构”的关系;完善价格激励机制,以需求升级为导向优化生产结构;优化收储调控机制,增强粮食安全风险应对能力;多举措提高农户种粮和地方政府发展粮食的积极性的同时充分利用国外资源和国际市场。