DO COUNTER-CYCLICAL PAYMENTS IN THE FSRI ACT CREATE INCENTIVES TO PRODUCE?

Analytical results in the literature suggest that counter-cyclical payments create risk-related incentives to produce even if they were "decoupled" under certainty (Hennessy, 1998). This paper develops a framework to assess the risk-related incentives to produce created by commodity programmes like the loan deficiency payments and the Counter-Cyclical Payments (CCP) in the FSRI Act. Because CCP are paid based on fixed production quantities they have a weaker risk-reducing impact than loan deficiency payments. The latter have a direct impact through the variance of the producer price distributions, while the impact of CCP is due only to the covariance between the CCP and the producer price distributions. The methodology developed by Chavas and Holt (1990) is applied to calculate the appropriate variance-covariance matrix of the truncated producer price distributions created by the FSRI in 2002. Risk premiums are computed showing that the risk related incentives created by CCP are significant and they do not disappear for levels of production that are larger than the base production on which they are paid.Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance,

A Survey on Service Composition Middleware in Pervasive Environments

The development of pervasive computing has put the light on a challenging problem: how to dynamically compose services in heterogeneous and highly changing environments? We propose a survey that defines the service composition as a sequence of four steps: the translation, the generation, the evaluation, and finally the execution. With this powerful and simple model we describe the major service composition middleware. Then, a classification of these service composition middleware according to pervasive requirements - interoperability, discoverability, adaptability, context awareness, QoS management, security, spontaneous management, and autonomous management - is given. The classification highlights what has been done and what remains to do to develop the service composition in pervasive environments

PROMOTING MULTIFUNCTIONALITY WHILE MINIMIZING TRADE DISTORTION EFFECTS: THE RELATIVE MERITS OF TRADITIONAL POLICY INSTRUMENTS

In relation to the growing debate around multifunctionality, this paper attempts to classify alternative measures of agricultural income support according to their ability in achieving three policy objectives (supporting agricultural income, promoting positive externalities and reducing negative ones) as well as to their induced trade distortion effects. Four income support programs are considered: a production-linked payment program, a land-based payment program and two decoupled payment programs. Their effectiveness as regards to the three policy objectives and their relatives induce trade distortion effects are examined on an equal cost/support basis through a conceptual framework that allows for free entry in the sector and the land price to adjust endogenously. Analytical results show clearly that no program uniformly dominates others. They also allow to identify the key parameters that have a substantial bearing on the relative merits of these programs.International Relations/Trade,

Impact of CAP Direct Payments on French Farms’ Managerial Efficiency

This paper investigates the relationship between CAP direct payments and managerial efficiency for French crop and beef farms. Managerial efficiency scores are calculated using a four-step approach that allows to disentangle managerial inefficiency from other technical inefficiency components, notably what is due to unfavourable environment conditions. Then managerial efficiency scores are regressed over a set of explanatory variables, including CAP direct payments. Our empirical application, based on individual farm data and meteorological data at the municipality level for the year 2000, shows that there is a substantial component of inefficiency that is due to unfavourable conditions. Moreover, there is a significant negative relationship between managerial efficiency and CAP direct payments for crop farms, but a positive relationship for livestock farms. The type of payments also matter, with area-based and Less Favoured Area payments reducing crop farms’ efficiency but headage and agri-environmental payments increasing beef farms’ efficiency.technical efficiency, managerial efficiency, subsidies, crop farms, beef farms, France, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

The Tariff-only Import Regime for Bananas in the European Union: Setting the Tariff at Right Level is Impossible Mission

On 29 November 2005, the European Union (EU) unilaterally introduced a tariff of 176 per tonne to apply from 1 January 2006 to bananas imported from countries enjoying the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status. The new EU trade policy includes a duty-free annual import quota of 775,000 tonnes for bananas originating from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. This regime replaces the very complex and highly contested tariff-rate quota policy in place in the EU between 1993 and 2005. However, the banana international trade war very likely has not come to an end. Several Latin American countries have announced their intention to challenge the new EU trade policy by initiating a new WTO complaint. In this paper, we first propose an analysis of the two WTO arbitration awards that ruled against the initial EU tariff proposals. We show that the arbitrators' awards are incomplete notably because they do not explain why CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) import unit values in the EU-15 from MFN suppliers are much higher than FOB (Free on Board) export unit values in corresponding MFN countries adjusted by all relevant costs that should theoretically be added to transform FOB into CIF prices. One plausible explanation to this apparent paradox is that reported CIF prices include at least part of quota rents generated by the tariff-rate quota policy. On this basis, we analyse the impacts of different MFN tariff levels on EU banana imports under contrasting hypotheses regarding, first whether the price gap between CIF and FOB unit values does include at least part of quota rents, second whether banana exports to the EU from Western African ACP countries were constrained under the previous regime where a specific import quota were reserved to ACP countries. We also analyse the consequences of an "augmented" tariff-only import regime including a MFN tariff and a duty-free import quota for ACP bananas.Tariff-rate quota, tariff, bananas, European Union, World Trade Organisation, Most Favoured Nation, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Resisting Foreign Competition – A Case Study of France and Germany

This article incorporates both the new trade and the endogenous growth theories to study the determinants of import volumes of France and Germany so as to explain their individual industrial competitiveness strategies – price or quality competition. This article is different because it studies competitiveness of a country’s products by considering its resistance to foreign competition rather than considering exports of these countries. Using disaggregated bilateral data for 16 European countries including Japan and the United States across 15 distinctly classified industries over a period of 20 years (between 1991 and 2010), we use an import demand equation to compare the relative product performances of France and Germany vis-à-vis their exporting competitors. To eliminate the price endogeneity problem, we implement a Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) estimation technique using the cost of production (which includes the unit labor cost and costs of capital and intermediates), mark-up and distance as instrumental variables for import prices. We also proxy innovation and hence product quality using research and development (R&D) intensity, reported in Product Field. We find that French products are highly substitutable vis-à-vis their foreign competitors in contrast to German products. Germany adopts better quality competitive strategies, thus rendering their products less substitutable and highly differentiated vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts

Capitalisation of government support in agricultural land prices: what do we know?

WP INRA-ESR Rennes N° 07-04Côte de localisation : INRA-ESR-REN LL 53 CB 009667The objective of this article is to provide an overview of existing literature, both theoretically and empirically, on the extent to which agricultural subsidies do translate into higher land values and rents and finally benefit landowners instead of agricultural producers. Our review shows that agricultural support policy instruments contribute to increase the rental price of farmland, and that the extent of this increase closely depends on the level of the supply price elasticity of farmland relative to those of other factors/inputs on the one hand, and on the range of the possibilities of factor/input substitution in agricultural production on the other hand. The empirical literature shows that land prices and rents have a significant positive response to government support, consistently less than 1. Such inelastic response is thought to reflect the uncertain future of the farm programs. And in general, studies have indicated that land prices are more responsive to government-based returns than to market-based returns

Tuberculose chez l’enfant infecté par le VIH en Ile-de-France : diagnostic et prise en charge à l’ère des multithérapies antirétrovirales

Introduction: Co-infection tuberculosis (TB)/HIV is rare in children in France. The objective of this study is to describe its management in a developed country in the era of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART).Methods: We performed a retrospective file review of all HIV-infected children < 18 years old who have been treated for TB disease between 01/01/2003 and 05/01/2014 in 3 pediatric university hospitals in Paris. The impact of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the management was studied.Results: Data from 20 children were analyzed. 80% were born abroad and the diagnosis of the 2 infections was made simultaneously in 50% of cases. The median CD4 cell count at TB diagnosis was 500 CD4/mm3 [range 0-2060]. 18 of 20 patients had an intra-thoracic involvement and 11 an extra-thoracic involvement. TB diagnosis was confirmed microbiologically in 30% of cases, the tuberculin skin test was positive in 50% of cases and interferon-gamma release assays in 69% of cases. 1 case of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome has been reported. All children have simultaneously received anti-tuberculous therapy (ATT) and HAART and TDM was used in 85% of cases. Dosages of ATT were found low in 44% of cases and led to frequent dose adjustments. All children are cured of TB episode.Conclusions: The management of co-infection TB / HIV in children is complex and requires a specialized team. The TDM of ATT and HAART are an important aid and should systematically be made.Introduction : La co-infection tuberculose (TB)/VIH est rare chez l’enfant en France. L’objectif de cette étude est de décrire sa prise en charge dans un pays développé à l’ère des multithérapies antirétrovirales.Méthodes : Nous avons effectué une analyse rétrospective des dossiers de tous les enfants âgés de moins de 18 ans infectés par le VIH ayant été traités pour une TB maladie entre le 01/01/2003 et le 01/05/2014 dans 3 centres hospitalo-universitaires pédiatriques parisiens. L’apport des dosages des anti-infectieux dans la prise en charge a été étudié.Résultats : Les données de 20 enfants ont été analysées. 80% étaient nés à l’étranger et dans 50% des cas le diagnostic des 2 infections s’est fait simultanément. La médiane de lymphocytes CD4 au diagnostic de TB était de 500 CD4/mm3. 18 patients sur 20 présentaient une atteinte thoracique et 11 une atteinte extra-thoracique. Le diagnostic de TB a été prouvé microbiologiquement dans 30% des cas, l’IDR était positive dans 50% des cas et le test interféron-gamma dans 69% des cas. 1 cas de syndrome inflammatoire de reconstitution immune a été rapporté. Tous les enfants ont reçus simultanément le traitement antituberculeux (ABK) et une multithérapie antirétrovirale et ce co-traitement a été monitoré par dosages médicamenteux dans 85% des cas. Les dosages d’ABK ont été retrouvés bas dans 44% des cas et ont conduit à de fréquentes adaptations de doses. Tous les enfants ont guéris de l’épisode tuberculeux.Conclusions : La prise en charge de la co-infection TB/VIH chez l’enfant est complexe et nécessite une équipe spécialisée. Les dosages des antiinfectieux sont une aide importante et devraient systématiquement être réalisés

Dynamic impacts of a financial reform of the CAP on regional land use, income and overall growth

In this paper we investigate the impacts of abolishing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the post-2013 European Union (EU) financial perspective and the impacts of re-investing the released funds on research and development (R&D). We apply a linked system of models to analyze the impacts for the EU member states. The linked system consists of five land-use sector models (agriculture, forestry, urban area, tourism and transport infrastructure), which are connected to a macro-econometric model. Additionally, a land cover model is used to disaggregate land use countries to a 1 km² grid. Three scenarios are analysed. In the “baseline” currently decided policies are assumed to be continued until 2025. In the “tax rebate” scenario agricultural support (first pillar) is removed, and the member states’ contributions to EU lowered. In the “R&D investments” scenario agricultural support is also removed, and the released funds are used to increase general R&D efforts in the EU. We find that in both liberalization scenarios, agricultural producer prices drop compared to the baseline. Agricultural production drops too, but less so in the “R&D investment” scenario due to productivity gains resulting from the increased R&D spending. In some countries, the productivity gains totally offset the negative impact of liberalisation on agricultural production. Smaller agricultural production implies less agricultural land use, and the more so in the “R&D Investment” scenario where productivity increases. The fall in agricultural production and prices negatively affects economic activity and households’ purchasing power, but the reduced direct taxation compensates this effect and results in a GDP gain of 0.53% and 0.8 million additional jobs. In “R&D investment” GDP gain reaches 2.57% and yields 2.95 million additional jobs in EU in 2025. The GDP, consumption and employment gains in the “R&D Investment” scenario widely exceed the losses in the agriculture sectors. The analysis indicates that if no external effects of agriculture are considered, then the CAP is an inefficient use of tax money, and that a considerable contribution to reaching the goals of the Lisbon agenda would be achieved if the same amount of money was instead invested in R&D.CAP reform, economical growth, land use, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use,