THE CREATION AND SPREAD OF TECHNOLOGY AND TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY IN CHINA'S AGRICULTURE

The studys overall goal is to create a framework for assessing the trends of China's national and international investment in agricultural research and to measure its impact on total factor productivity. The main methodological contribution is to provide more convincing measures of crop-specific technologies from China's national research program and of those imported from the international agricultural research system. Our results find that from 1980-95, China's total factor productivity for rice, wheat and maize grew rapidly and new technology accounts for most of the productivity growth.Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Maize in China: Production Systems, Constraints, and Research Priorities

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

Impact of Plant Breeders Rights on Technology Availability in China

There has been considerable debate but little empirical analysis among academics, policy makers, and civil society about whether intellectual property rights would induce private research in developing countries. China passed its plant variety protection act (PVPA) in 1997 which allowed us to do some initial testing of this proposition. We used a unique data set on the seed price, area planted, morphological characteristics, and institutional sources of all the important varieties of rice in three provinces of China to estimate the impact of PVPA on seed prices and area planted to a variety. We found that protected varieties have higher prices than unprotected varieties, but that they are grown on smaller area, which means less seed is sold. Our data suggests that the increase in seed price is more than enough to compensate for the decline in demand and to pay the cost o f obtaining protection. Thus, seed companies can increase their profits by protecting new rice varieties. These results also provide some preliminary quantitative evidence to suggest that in the case of rice in China PVPA may provide some incentive for firms invest in research. However, we could not directly test whether PVPA induces more research because we do not have data on rice research expenditures by research institutes or by variety.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Biotechnology as an alternative to chemical pesticides: a case study of Bt cotton in China

The overall goal of this study is to determine the extent by which genetically engineered (GE) crops in China can lead to reductions of pesticide use, the nature and source of the reductions, and whether or not there are any non-pecuniary externalities. One of the first studies of the effect of plant biotechnology on poor farmers, the study is based on a data set collected by the authors in 2000 in North China. The paper¡¯s descriptive, budget and multivariate analysis find that Bt cotton significantly reduces the number of sprayings, the quantity of pesticides used and the level of pesticide expenditures. All Bt cotton varieties¡ªboth those produced by foreign life science companies and those created by China¡¯s research system are equally effective. In addition to these input-reducing effects, the paper also demonstrates that such reductions in pesticides also likely lead to labour savings, more efficient overall production, as well as positive health and environmental impacts.Chemical pesticides, Bt cotton, Genetically engineered (GE) crops

Using Economics to Explain Spatial Diversity in a Wheat Crop: Examples from Australia and China

Spatial diversity indicators may serve an important function for policymakers as they seek to manage crop genetic diversity and potential externalities associated with diffusion of some types of genetically improved crops. This paper adapts spatial diversity indices employed by ecologists in the study of species diversity to area distributions of modern wheat varieties in contrasting production systems of Australia and China. The variation in three interrelated concepts of diversity "richness, abundance, and evenness" is explained by factors related to the demand and supply of varieties, agroecology, and policies using the econometric method of Zellner's seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). Results suggest that in addition to expected yield and profitability, other variety characteristics are important in explaining variation in the spatial distribution of modern wheat varieties. Environmental factors and policy variables related to the supply of varieties, international research spillins, and market liberalization are also determinants of the diversity in these systems. Explanatory factors affect richness, abundance and evenness in the distribution of modern wheat varieties in different ways. Comparing results between a small, commercial wheat-producing shire in Australia and a large, heterogeneous area in seven provinces of China illustrates the importance of scale and the nature of the farming system. Further research might include: (1) refinement of methods used to construct spatial diversity indices by incorporating geographically-referenced information; (2) more explicit treatment of the relationship between scale of measurement and diversity indices; (3) refinements in the specification of policy variables, and (4) application of similar methods in zones where traditional varieties are grown.Crop Production/Industries,

Transgenic varieties and productivity of smallholder cotton farmers in China

Genetically modified cotton varieties have greater production efficiency for smallholders in farming communities in China. We also find that the adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton varieties leads to a significant decrease in the use of pesticides. Hence, we demonstrate that Bt cotton appears to be an agricultural technology that improves both production efficiency and the environment. In terms of policies, our findings suggest that the government should investigate whether or not they should make additional investments to spread Bt to other cotton regions and to other crops.Crop Production/Industries,

SMALL HOLDERS, TRANSGENIC VARIETIES, AND PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY: THE CASE OF COTTON FARMERS IN CHINA

The overall goal of this study is to measure the effect of the impact that genetically modified cotton varieties have had on the production efficiency of small holders in farming communities in China. We also find that the adoption of Bt cotton varieties leads to a significant decrease in the use of pesticides. Hence, we demonstrate that Bt cotton appears to be an agricultural technology that improves both production efficiency and the environment. In terms of policies, our findings suggest that the government should investigate whether or not they should make additional investments to spread Bt to other cotton regions and to other crops.Farm Management, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Privatization, Public R&D Policy, and Private R&D Investment in China's Agriculture

Private R&D is a major source of innovation and productivity growth in agriculture worldwide. This paper examines trends and determinants of agricultural R&D in China. Results show that while the public sector monopolized agricultural research until recently, private agricultural R&D has grown rapidly since 2000, driven largely by agribusiness privatization. Public-sector R&D investments in basic research also encouraged private R&D research, but public investments in technology development crowded out private R&D investment. China’s private R&D investment would grow more rapidly if the government shifted public resources from technology development to basic research.Agriculture, China, Private R&D, Privatization, Public R&D, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

'Bt cotton' benefits, costs and impacts in China

The overall goal of this paper is to reexamine findings of earlier efforts that analysed the effect of Bt cotton adoption in 1999 with two follow-up surveys conducted in 2000 and 2001. Our survey data on yields and econometric analyses indicate that the adoption of Bt cotton continues to increase output per hectare in 2000 and 2001 and that the yield gains extend to all provinces in our sample. More importantly, Bt cotton farmers also increased their incomes by being reducing use of pesticides and labour inputs. Finally, survey data shows that Bt cotton continues to have positive environmental impacts by reducing pesticide use. We provide evidence that farmers have less health problems because of reduced pesticide use. We conclude with evidence that China is not unique and that there are lessons for other developing countries in their experience

Rural financial development, spatial spillover, and poverty reduction: evidence from China

Rural financial development is deemed essential for eliminating poverty. In China, successive governments have initiated a series of financial development plans to reduce poverty since the launch of economic reform in the late 1970s. However, there is a rising concern about whether financial development can reduce poverty in China. This study uses a panel dataset of 30 provinces (out of 31) in mainland China from 1997 to 2015 to examine the effect of rural financial development on poverty reduction. We employ a spatial panel model to investigate whether rural financial development has a positive spatial spillover effect. Moreover, we use the instrumental variable method to address the possible bidirectional causal effect between rural financial development and poverty reduction. Our study confirms that rural financial development does reduce poverty and simultaneously widen the urban-rural income gap. We further find that rural financial development has a positive spatial spillover effect on poverty alleviation and that the conventional panel model (e.g., fixed effects method) may underestimate the effect of rural financial development, as it ignores the spatial spillover effect