Achieving food security in China: Implications of WTO accession

The results of a three-year study of the implications of China's accession to the WTO for its agricultural sector and policy options to maximise the benefits of the trade reforms are reported. The most important message from the study is that macro-economic and other non-agriculture specific policies can do much to improve the outcome for rural households and thereby improve food security. These policies include the promotion of urban development in inland areas and gradual reform of monetary policy. However, agricultural policies need further reform, including abandoning of price support and regional self-sufficiency policies, reform of monopolistic agricultural marketing and distribution activities, and reform of the state grain storage system. Hopefully, WTO membership will assist implementation of these reforms.Food Security and Poverty, International Development,

Agricultural and resource economics and economic development in Aboriginal communities

Economic development is seen as the best way for Aboriginal communities to improve their welfare and lessen the considerable disadvantages they suffer. Unfortunately, the economics profession has shown little interest in their plight. Agricultural and resource economists have much to offer in helping to foster economic development in Aboriginal communities throughout Australia. Suggestions are made as to various ways in which our particular interests and experiences can hopefully be applied.International Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

World food markets into the 21st century: commodity risk management policies

Recent concerns about future global food production seem poorly based. The rapid phase of growth in food consumption is over for most of the world's population because of increased incomes and, besides, population growth rates continue to slow. Thus, the rate of growth of food production needed in the future is much lower than it has been for the past 40 years. Production and price instability will continue, perhaps with lessened intensity because of reduced government intervention. With private agricultural interests now facing greater exposure to price and production risks, especially in developing countries, there needs to be greater emphasis on financial market instruments for managing these risks.International Relations/Trade,

A survey of the costs of world sugar policies

This paper provides a framework for assessing the prospects for trade reform in the sugar market. It begins by explaining the main features of the policy formation processes affecting the sugar market. The discussion draws heavily on a recent model of the world market developed by Wong, Sturgiss and Borrell (1989), and some parts of this paper summarize that work directly. Some of the key features of existing policies are discussed and the findings of a number of empiricalstudies are highlighted to draw attention to the economic costs and welfare effects of such policies. The paper concludes with an assessment of the prospects for reform.Access to Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Agribusiness&Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access

Rural-Urban Income Disparity and WTO Impact on China’s Agricultural Sector: Policy Considerations

Agricultural and Food Policy,

The impact of the Asian Crisis on Australia's primary exports: why it wasn't so bad

This article explores the modest impact of the Asian Crisis on Australia’s primary commodity exports. Simulations using a global general equilibrium model show: (i) as capital flees Asia, investment in Australia increases and the trade deficit grows; (ii) while terms of trade deteriorate in the short run, they improve in the medium run as import demand increases in the crisis countries; (iii) exports of primary commodities expand as the crisis countries try to export more; (iv) more income‐elastic primary commodities fare less well than the income‐inelastic foodstuffs as incomes decline in the crisis countries; (v) Australia’s relatively low dependence on manufactured exports was a buffer as manufactured exports came under heavy pressure from exports from the crisis countries.International Relations/Trade,

Privatization, concentration, and pressure for protection : a steel sector study

In considering whether to privatize a large state-owned steel enterprise in Argentina, the question arose: Would its sale to a consortium of large domestic enterprises, and the resulting increase in firm concentration, inevitably lead to cries for protection? To shed light on the question, the authors examine data for steel industries in the major industrial countries. They also construct a simulation of Argentina's steel sector to study the relationships between levels of industrial concentration, substitutability between domestic and imported steels, trade policy regimes, and mark-ups of domestic prices over international prices. Their simulation results show that heavier rents and economic distortions are generated through fixed-ratio import quotas (quotas that are a fixed proportion of domestic sales) than through use of a tariff or a fixed-quantity import quota. The results show why industries seeking protection prefer a fixed-ratio import restraint - a practice being used increasingly often in industrial countries. If there is not perfect substitutability between domestic and imported steels, the incentives for the Argentine industry to seek protection - particularly as a fixed-ratio quota - are greater, the more concentrated the industry is. The lesson for policymakers - who should be trying to minimize economic distortions - is that if protection is necessary, tariffs are preferable to import quotas, perhaps even to the point of making quota-type restrictions unconstitutional. The simulation results for Argentina confirm that the less substitutable domestic and foreign goods are, the higher the rents of domestic industry can extract. So, it is important for policymakers implementing privatization schemes to ease any explicit or implicit obstacles to imports by such measures as: (a) standardizing domestic product classifications with international classifications; (b) modernizing transportation facilities to improve the speed of shipment and communication; (c) reducing bureaucratic practices related to trade in goods and services; and (d) releasing foreign exchange restrictions. The goal should be to make a foreign transaction as easy as a domestic transaction.TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research

Simulations of Solid-on-Solid Models of Spreading of Viscous Droplets

We have studied the dynamics of spreading of viscous non-volatile fluids on surfaces by MC simulations of SOS models. We have concentrated on the complete wetting regime, with surface diffusion barriers neglected for simplicity. First, we have performed simulations for the standard SOS model. Formation of a single precursor layer, and a density profile with a spherical cap shaped center surrounded by Gaussian tails can be reproduced with this model. Dynamical layering (DL), however, only occurs with a very strongly attractive van der Waals type of substrate potential. To more realistically describe the spreading of viscous liquid droplets, we introduce a modified SOS model. In the new model, tendency for DL and the effect of the surface potential are in part embedded into the dynamics of the model. This allows a relatively simple description of the spreading under different conditions, with a temperature like parameter which strongly influences the droplet morphologies. Both rounded droplet shapes and DL can easily be reproduced with the model. Furthermore, the precursor width increases proportional to the square root of time, in accordance with experimental observations. PACS: 68.10.Gw, 05.70.Ln, 61.20.Ja.Comment: to appear in Physica A (1994), standard LaTex, 20 page

The gains from pasture research in Australia : an economic analysis of research in the C.S.I.R.O. Division of Plant Industry

The primary aim of this study was to estimate rates of return on investment in pasture research for a number of regions in Australia where the C.S.I.R.O. Division of Plant Industry has carried out research into improved pastures. As well, an investigation was carried out into the economic criteria underlying research decisions in the Division of Plant Industry. In undertaking this study it was also hoped to gain some insights into the economic factors which determine the returns from agricultural research