PMP, Extensions and Alternative Methods: Introductory Review of the State of the Art

Agribusiness,

Multi-input Multi-output Farm-level Cost Function: A Comparison of Least Squares and Entropy Estimators

We introduce a modification of the quadratic-Leontieff multi-output cost function that is particularly suitable for the data of the Farm Accountancy Data Network. We present least squares and entropy estimates of that function and compare their results for a sample of crop farms. Our results are encouraging for the use of entropy estimators in cases in which farms are not assumed to share the same technology. Our approach can be seen as an extension of the Positive Mathematical Programming approach (Howitt, 1995). The extension consists in an explicit specification of inputs in the cost function and in the possibility of modeling several farms simultaneously.cost function, least squares estimator, entropy estimator, heterogeneity, Farm Management, C3, D61, Q12,

How Non-Research Investments Affect Research Impact: The Case of Maize Technology Adoption in Southern Mali

Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

IMPACT OF THE NEW EU NOVEL FOOD AND FEED REGULATION ON THE SUPPLY CHAINS FOR ANIMAL PRODUCTS

This communication examines how the new EU novel food and feed regulation would affect markets and trade in commodities, feed ingredients and animal products. Market and trade effects are derived from a multiregion, multicommodity, multistage, non-spatial, partial equilibrium model in which supply chains for animal products are segmented into GM and non-GM lines of products.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Agricultural Research Impact Assessment: The Case of Maize Technology Adoption in Southern Mali

Adoption of the improved maize package was particularly rapid during the period 1980-86 when an attractive guaranteed price was offered and extension activities were reinforced by a maize project that included the establishment of a seed multiplication program. Following cereal market price liberalization in 1986, maize prices fell and have been subject to considerable variability. Area has continued to expand, but farmers have greatly reduced fertilizer use, switched back to maize-late millet intercropping, and substituted early maturing varieties better suited to their own food security needs. The estimated internal rate of return (IRR) to investment in maize research and extension in southern Mali over the period 1969-90 is 135%. This high rate can be attributed to low research costs (much of the technical package was borrowed from research conducted elsewhere in West Africa), and the high economic value of maize as an import substitute. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the IRR is robust with respect to adverse changes in assumptions concerning overvaluation of the exchange rate, research costs, extension costs, and area of improved maize. It is moderately sensitive to price and yield reductions.food security, food policy, maize, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Downloads June 2008 - June 2009: 26, R11,

Differentiated Demand and Supply of Wheat under Alternative European Trade Policies

This paper proposes a partial equilibrium displacement model that differentiates wheat according to its end-use and country of origin to investigate the impact of alternative European trade policies on wheat supply and demand in France. Transmission, demand and supply elasticities are estimated for each class and origin of wheat. Simulation results show that rebalancing trade protection across wheat classes encourages domestic supply of high quality wheat and displaces imports from North America.Differentiated wheat, almost ideal demand system, partial equilibrium displacement model, common agricultural policy, European Union, Demand and Price Analysis,

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INTRA-INDUSTRY TRADE IN THE PROCESSED FOOD SECTOR

For the first time in the food trade literature, the determinants of intra-industry trade (IIT) in horizontally differentiated products and vertically differentiated products are separately tested using the most recent theoretical models of IIT. For both 1980 and 1990, the econometric results confirm country- and industry- specific determinants proposed by these models for explaining horizontal and vertical IIT in the European processed food sector.intra-industry trade, horizontal differentiation, vertical differentiation, processed food sector, European Union, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Analysis of Technical and Policy Changes for Belgian Dairy Farms Using an Estimated Augmented SGM Cost Function

This paper provides some evidence on the evolution of marginal and average costs of dairy farms in Belgium between 1990 and 2007. It investigates the effect of the 2003 Mid-Term Review by adding time trends and linear splines to an augmented multi-input multi-output symmetric generalized McFadden cost function and estimating it using a panel of Belgian dairy farms. Existence of size, scale and scope economies in the dairy sub-sector is also examined. This exercise increases our understanding of dairy farm responses to reforms and helps envision the possible effects of ending the milk quota system as it is now planned for 2015.Livestock Production/Industries,