Climate Change and Crop Yield Distribution: Some New Evidence From Panel Data Models

This study examines the impact of climate on the yields of seven major crops in Taiwan based on pooled panel data for 15 prefectures over the 1977-1996 period. Unit-root tests and maximum likelihood methods involving a panel data model are explored to obtain reliable estimates. The results suggest that climate has different impacts on different crops and a gradual increase in crop yield variation is expected as global warming prevails. Policy measures to counteract yield variability should therefore be carefully evaluated to protect farmers from exposure to these long-lasting and increasingly climate-related risks.Yield response, Climate change, Panel data, Unit-root test

Threshold Effects in Cigarette Addiction: An Application of the Threshold Model in Dynamic Panels

We adopt the threshold model of myopic cigarette addiction to US state-level panel data. The threshold model is used to identify the structural effects of cigarette demand determinants across the income stratification. Furthermore, we apply a bootstrap approach to correct for the small-sample bias that arises in the dynamic panel threshold model with fixed effects. Our empirical results indicate that there exists the heterogeneity of smoking dynamics across consumers.Cigarettes demand, price elasticity, threshold regression model, dynamic panel model, bias correction, bootstrap

Is Contract Farming More Profitable and Efficient Than Non-Contract Farming-A Survey Study of Rice Farms In Taiwan

Trade liberalization and globalization has modernized the food retail sector in Taiwan, affecting consumers, producers and trade patterns. These changes have placed significant pressures on farmers and processors including more stringent quality control and product varieties. The government has launched a rice production-marketing contract program in 2005 to assist rice farmers and the agro-business sector to work together as partners. The minimum scale for each contract is 50 hectares of adjacent rice paddies with 50 participants including rice farmers, seedling providers, millers and marketing agents. In order to evaluate the outcome of this program, a survey is conducted in the summer of 2005 after the first (spring) crop is harvested. Information of price and value of output and major variable and fixed inputs are collected along with characteristics of the farmers and farms. The survey results show that the average revenue of a contract farm is about 11 percent higher than an average non-contract farm. The per hectare cost of production in a contract farm is about 13 percent lower and as a result the average profit margin under contract is more than 50 percent above those without contract. A swtiching regression profit frontier model is adopted to further investigate their efficiency performance. The result indicates that an average contract farms is 20 percent more efficient than an average non-contract farm in a comparable operating environment. The result also suggests that although contract farming has potential to improve the profit of smallholders, it is not a sufficient condition for such improvement.Land Economics/Use,

Efficiency and Returns to Scale Measurements with Shared Inputs in Multi-Activity Data Envelopment Analysis: An Application to Farmers' Organizations in Taiwan

This paper addresses the question how team production promotes efficiency of a firm when some inputs can be rewarded on the basis of outputs but some cannot because they are shared among outputs and non-separable. A multi-activity DEA model with variable returns to scale is proposed to provide information on the efficiency performance for organizations with inputs shared among several closely related activities. The model is applied to study the case of 279 farmers' associations in Taiwan. The result suggests that it is important to improve the efficiency of the non-profit oriented activities to improve their overall performances. Three out of four departments of TFAs can gain from economies of scale through expansion, while the remaining one gains through contraction. Thus, policies promoting structural adjustment and consolidations of TFAs would not be inconsistent with public interests.multi-activity DEA, shared inputs, efficiency measure, directional distance function, Productivity Analysis,

ON THE EQUIVALENCE OF IMPORT TARIFF AND QUOTA: THE CASE OF RICE IMPORT IN TAIWAN

This paper extends the existing theory on the equivalence of import tariff and quota. If the equivalence is defined on the domestic price level (weak equivalence), then either the zero conjectural variation for domestic country or a perfectly competitive market will be sufficient to support this equivalence. If the equivalence is defined both on the same domestic price level as well as tariff rate (strong equivalence), then the conditions are that either domestic country acts as a Cournot competitor and foreign country is a price taker, or both domestic and foreign country are price takers. An empirical spatial-equilibrium trade model is constructed to simulate the impacts of import tariff and quota. Using Taiwan¡¦s rice import as an example, the empirical results show that if Taiwan switches from the quota system to tariff system, the domestic rice price as well as total social welfare can be increased given the same import volume.International Relations/Trade,

Original Article

Part I. Digitalis Ecg. in Goldberger\u27s Augmented Unipolar Limb Leads and Wilson\u27s Unipolar Chest Leads. There were analyzed the electrocardiograms of selected 37 cases which were scrupulously observed under the digitalis therapy on account of cardiac insufficiency. 1. P. a) Goldberger\u27s leads: The changes of P are generally not striking, only 2 cases showed the significant transformation in aV_R and aV_L, respectively. b) Wilson\u27s chest leads: The changes of P in V_1〜V_6 were found only in 4 cases. 2. Cardiac position and rotation. a) Goldberger\u27s leads: No more than 2 cases gave the disjtinct changes of the cardiac position in aV leads. b) At the early stage of digitalization the clockwise rotation was more frequently seen than the anticlockwise one. 3. ST. a) Goldberger\u27s leads: ST in aV_R were tend upward and ST in aV_F downward. ST in aV_L was either raised or lowered according to the cardiac position, but these changes were for the most part within normal limits. b) Wilson\u27s chest leads: Except for the extreme right ventricular strain curve, the digitalis ST depression was markedly observed in those leads which showed the largest upward deflection of QRS. Digitalis depresses ST of the levogram, and elevates ST of the dextrogram. However both in the excessive right ventricular strain curve and in the case with vivid Halb-seiten Effekt, digitalis does not raise ST of the dextrogram. 4. T. a) Goldberger\u27s leads: T in aV_F relatively often decreases in its positivity, becomes negative, and increases in its negativity. The characteristic changes due to digitalization are not clearly recognized in aV_R and aV_L. b) Wilson\u27s chest leads: T frequently decreases in its positivity, becomes negative or diphasic, and increases in its negativity. These changes are in special measure repeatedly found in the levogram. 5. Under the digitalization ventricular premature beats, auricular flutter and fibrillation appeared in several cases. Ventricular bigeminy and atrioventricular block were observed in each of two cases.On the contrary, there were found some cases in which the digitalization extinguished ventricular extrasystoles or bigeminy and auricular fibrillation persisted so long. Even in the presence of the ventricular bigeminy which is as a rule considered to be the indication to stop the digitalis use, yet digitalis can be administered under the closed notice. 6. Among 25 cases which showed sinus full rhythm, the prolongation of PR complicated with ST depression was observed in 6 cases (24 %). 7. Among 36 cases in which QT was estimated satisfactorily, the shortening of QT was found in 17 cases (47 %); 59 % of cases with shortened QT were accompanied by ST depression. 8. The digitalis bradycardia was recognized in 18 cases (49 %) and 65 % of bradycardic cases showed ST depression. 9. In the electrocardiograms of 7 cases suffered from the side effects of digitalis, i. e. vomitting, visual disturbance and so on, there could be often found arrhythmia and distinguished ST depression. The outburst of clinical side, effects was preceded by the clear-cut ST depression in two cases, so that it may possibly be taken the onset of the remarkable ST depression granted for an alarming sign of the threatening side effects. 10. The characteristic patterns of digitalis ecg. can be recognized even in the cases with digitalis refractoriness, the extent of such changes is, however, generally less striking and becomes as slighter as near death. Part II. Experimental Studies on so-called Digitalis Ecg. The experiments were carried on the dog\u27s hearts which were relatively resistive against digitalis Cdorsal fixation, isomytal anesthesia). a) the drip infusion of 1.0 mg of Strophosid intravenously. b) 5 times of the intravenous injections of 0.25 mg of Strophosid every 20 minutes. c) 3 times of the intravenous injection of 0.6 mg of Digicorin (AD-1), in total 1.8 mg. d) the intravenous injection of 1.0 mg of Acetylcholine before and after 1.8 mg of Digicorin.e) 2 times of the intravenous injection of 0.25 mg of Strophosid after the injection of 3.6 mg of Digicorin intravenously. f) the intravenous injection of 300 mg of Pronestyl at the event ventricular tachycardia due to over dosage of digitalis. The timepoint of every observation after the various digitalis injections is always the same; at each observation, besides registration of ecg., blood pressure and respiration, Wezler\u27s analysis was performed. 1) Either Strophosid or Digicorin, which is the limit of calculated therapeutic dosage, do not bring ST-T depression, whereas the calculated toxic doses of two drugs lower ST-T distinctly. There are found some cases in which the extrasystoles are preceded by the appearance of ST-T depression; therefore it cannot be concluded that changes of ST-T pattern can be possible for guide of the digitalis bioassay. 2) In the cases injected with Strophosid fractionatedly, ST-T depression can be recognized earlier at the smaller dosis than that in the cases treated by the drip intravenous infusion. Undiluted Strophosid does often elevate the blood pressure, chiefly due to increase in output. 3) The negative chronotropic action of both Strophosid and Digicorin is more or less weak. 4) The stimulation immediately after the cervical vago-sympathectomy prolongs PR, moreover occasionally elicits atrioventricular dissociation. 5) Even in the toxic stage of Strophosid the essential pattern of carotid sinus pressor reflex can be observed, although the degree \u27of reflexibility becomes smaller than that before the injection, and the reflex tachycardia becomes more vague. From these results it may be safe to say that the effect of reflexly augmented sympathicotonia by means of Hering\u27s second stimulation is difficult to take place because of the inhibitory vagal action of Strophosid. 6) The intravenous injection, of 1.0 mg of Acetylcholine administered before the use of Digicorin lowers the blood pressure range abruptly, and there develops apnea instantly after temporal hyperpnea.Electrocardiographically after ventricular arrest due to atrioventricular block followed tachycardic auricular impure flutter, there occured initially bradicardic, thereafter tachycardic auricular fibrillation, sinus complete rhythm, temporal atrioventricular dissociation in turn untill the complete sinus rhythm was recovered. The tachycardia which breaks out at the beginning, is considered to depend upon sinocarotid or cardioaortic chemoreceptor reflex, whereas the intravenous injection of 1.0 mg of Acetylcholine after Digicorin does not cause such an initial tachycardia, so that it may be appropriate to say that Digicorin does exert influence upon these reflex arcs. 7) The intravenous injection of Acetylcholine after application of Digicorin reveals quite the same extent of the reactivity with merely one half dosis, therefore it may be concluded that Digicorin is sure to promote the vagal tonisity. 8) The intravenous injection of Acetylcholine after the administration of Tropin brings out the inverse reaction of blood pressure, whereas the hyperventilation of short duration appears. The former phenomenon may be concerned with suppression of muscarinlike action of Acetylcholine, the latter with the deficiency of the paralytic action against visceroafferent fibre. 9) After the saturation accomplished with Digicorin the intravenous injection of Strophosid depresses ST-T and further there occurs ventricular tachycardia. Even after the saturation of Digicorin, of which toxity is very slight, the injection of Strophosid proves dangerous. 10) After the, saturation by the application of Digicorin, the ventricular tachycardia due to the intravenous injection of Strophosid cannot be prevented with the administration of 300 mg of pronestyl intravenously, so the arterial depression develops. But there appeared the reduction of QRS interval which can be thought to be improvement of intraventricular conduction disturbance; therefore in such event Pronestyl proves necessary.11) All instances injected with Strophosid as above mentioned may show subendocardial haemorrhage which was observed more markedly in the outflow area beneath aortic valves than in the inflow area under mitral valves. The subendocardial haemorrhage lacked in inflammation histologically. The cases treated with the singular use of Digicorin do not show the subendocardial haemorrhage even if ST-T depressed remarkably

SPATIAL EQUILIBRIUM MODELING WITH IMPERFECTLY COMPETITIVE MARKETS: AN APPLICATION TO RICE TRADE

A general imperfect competition spatial equilibrium model is developed to estimate the trading country behaviors in the international rice market using a conjectural variation approach. Such a model allows the possibility of an imperfect competitive market to exit on both the export and import sides without any assumption of market structure. The empirical results show that the major exporting countries, Thailand, Vietnam, and the U.S. acted as high degree of imperfect competitors(or oligopolies) while Pakistan acted as a lower degree of imperfect competitor. The importing countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Europe, Brazil, and the former USSR behaved as high degree of imperfect competitors (or oligopsonies). The empirical results also show that there are welfare gains of $1,492 million when all trading countries comply with the free trade agreement.Marketing,

Towards An Integrated Effort For Managing IT Process Standards Implementation

Adopting IT process standards seems to be a trend for IT organizations to meet ad-hoc informational needs and to provide better business value. Due to the changing environments of IT organizations themselves, one key to IT success lies in not only the establishment, but also the sustainability of ad-hoc professional IT functions. As IT organizations face many kinds of process standards to implement for various IT functions and although the implementations may be different due to various IT domains, from the management point of view, these implementations may not exist individually. This article attempts to highlight a possibility of an integrated effort to effectively manage the implementations of IT standards in an IT organization. Such a shared management refers to the integrated institutionalization design, which provides a road map for all IT functions to systematically improve and sustain the implementation results. A case example is provided for demonstrating the proposed attempt