Economic Analysis of Menthol Mint Cultivation in Uttar Pradesh: A Case Study of Barabanki District

The present study has been carried out in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh on economic analysis of menthol mint cultivation in the year 2010. The economics has been worked out by comparing costs and returns at different stages by the conventional method. The linear production function has been fitted to evaluate the resources-use efficiency in the production of menthol mint. The study has shown that the major portion of operational cost is shared by hired labour, interculture operations, distillation charges, irrigation and machine / tractor charge. The overall benefit-cost ratio has been found to be 2.55, which indicates a higher profit for farmers on less investment in mint cultivation. The independent variables like human labour, machinery, manures and fertilizer, irrigation charges and intercultural operations have shown a positive and significant impact on the returns of mentha crop in the study area. The major problems faced by the farmers are high input cost, erratic supply of electricity, lack of adequate information, infrastructural facilities, regulated markets and energy-efficient distillation units.Menthol mint, Medicinal and aromatic plants, Mentha crop, Barabanki district, Economic analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q 12, Q 18,

Bilateral Free Trade Agreements – How do Countries Choose Partners?

Business: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)While the debate on whether countries should or should not sign trade agreements with selected partners continues, governments have significantly stepped up the rate at which they enter into such agreements. A number of such agreements have been signed lately and many more are under negotiation. Multinational firms get impacted by these agreements irrespective of whether these are beneficial to the participating economies in particular or to the world economy in general. Bilateral free trade agreements constitute a very large proportion of the trade agreements between countries. Knowing which two countries are more likely to sign a free trade agreement can help multinational firms minimize risks or maximize opportunities arising from the recent proliferation of such agreements. This paper finds that geographical distance and relative strength of industry pressure groups are two factors that govern which two countries are more likely to enter into a bilateral free trade agreement with each other.A five-year embargo was granted for this item

Indian Seed System Development: Policy and Institutional Options

Developments in the Indian seed industry and their impact on access and use of commercial seed by farmers have been examined. Various types of seed systems such as hybrids, self-pollinated crops, vegetatively propagated crops, crops with high seed volume, etc have been analysed. It has been shown that the commercial seed markets for hybrids are well developed, but these need improving flow of information to farmers and effective regulation of unscrupulous traders, etc. There are significant changes in terms of seed regulations, management of GM crops and protection of intellectual property. Since all these regulations are mutually enforcing, there is a need for developing institutional capacity for their enforcement, as well as flexibility to learn from the experience for future adaptation. There is a lot of scope for strengthening the seed system of ‘orphan crops’, where there is no participation of the private sector, and the public seed system is facing several resource and institutional constraints. In particular, there is a need for technological backstopping, developing partnerships with private and civil society organisations, and developing capacity at the local level. The results of farm surveys have shown that increasing proportion of farmers use commercial seed for quality considerations. The study has argued that there is a problem with variety selection, particularly of proprietary hybrids, due to lack of information, which has resulted into poor crop performance on several occasions.Crop Production/Industries,

Delivering Seeds of 'Orphan' Crops: The Case Studies of Potato and Groundnut in India

This paper examines the performance of the Indian seed system in the context of high volume, low value seed, using the case studies of potato and groundnut. In theory, public sector should be able to address seed needs of farmers growing these crops. However, the ability of the public sector is constrained by a number of institutional and technical factors, and farmers largely depend upon traditional sources of seed. The traditional sources meet more than two-thirds of the total seed demand , and the rest is met by the formal seed system, mainly public seed agencies. Most of the farmers buy fresh seed for quality reasons, and only 12-15 percent farmers purchase seed to change variety. In potato, technological innovation provided options to enhance multiplication rate and improve quality of seed, and therefore attracted the private sector in the production and delivery of seed to farmers. Availability of source seed from public plant breeding programs further encouraged the private sector's participation. However, it is very unlikely that the crops under study will attract private investment in plant breeding because of inadequate incentives even under the new IPR regime. Therefore, public research system should continue to shoulder the responsibility of plant breeding, and develop partnership with the private sector to strengthen decentralized seed activities. Coordination among public seed corporations of different states may help augment seed supply in the deficit regions, and offer greater choice to farmers. Efforts to develop supply chain, especially for premium market, will eventually attract private sector in the product, as well as seed market.Seed system, Seed sources, Seed saving, Seed quality, Supply chain, India, Crop Production/Industries, O3, Q13, Q16,

Order of Entry into Foreign Countries by US Multinationals Since 1965: Role of Psychic Distance Over Time and Across Sectors

Observations of internationalizing manufacturing firms, in the late seventies, revealed that the order in which firms enter foreign countries is influenced by psychic distance (perceived closeness based on factors such as culture, language and development level). Since then, the world has undergone rapid globalization and services have replaced manufacturing as the dominant sector of the world economy. To ascertain whether (a) psychic distance is still relevant and (b) industry sector impacts the relationship between psychic distance and order of entry, this paper analyzed the order of entry into foreign countries by US multinationals in manufacturing and services sectors since 1965. Results indicate that cultural and language differences still play a role and the effect is very similar across sectors

Rise of Born Globals and Their Association With High Technology Intensity or Services Sector - Myths or Reality?

Literature suggests that the proportion of born globals - firms entering foreign countries soon after birth - has increased significantly over time and such firms are associated with high technology intensity or services sector. However, there is little empirical support for these claims. To address this gap, this paper presents an empirical analysis of age at first global entry of US manufacturing and service multinationals that entered foreign countries in the last century. Only manufacturing showed a significant rise in the number of born globals. Being born global was not correlated with either having high technology intensity or being a service firm

Impact of Sequence of International Entries on Country Exits

A classic model of international entries - the Uppsala model - postulated that firms enter foreign countries in increasing order of psychic distance between the home and the host country to minimize the risk of failure. A question that was left unanswered was whether this sequence of entry results in any performance benefits. Literature on the impact of psychic distance, or its components like culture distance, on the performance of foreign operations abounds but the order of entry that is critical to the Uppsala model remains conspicuously absent. This paper presents an analysis of foreign country entries and exits by American multinationals in the manufacturing and services sectors since 1965. Companies that enter foreign countries in increasing order of culture distance do gain a significant performance advantage over those who do not. Changes over time and across industry sectors are discusse

The J. C. Penney Company And Sephora USA Partnership: A Case Study

J. C. Penney, one of America’s largest department stores, and Sephora U.S.A. Inc., an affiliate of the French cosmetics chain, entered into a partnership in 2006. The agreement allowed Sephora to exclusively operate cosmetics stores within J. C. Penney stores and to service J. C. Penney online customers through a link from J. C. Penney web-site to Sephora web-site. The purpose of this case study is to stimulate a critical evaluation of the decision by these companies to enter into a partnership instead of a merger or an acquisition. The case can be used as a tool to facilitate broader discussion of various corporate strategies and their relative merits and demerits. The accompanying teaching note refers the reader to an analytical framework that can be used to determine when to go for corporate partnerships instead of mergers or acquisitions and applies that framework to this case

Rise of Born Globals and Their Association With High Technology Intensity or Services Sector - Myths or Reality?

Literature suggests that the proportion of born globals - firms entering foreign countries soon after birth - has increased significantly over time and such firms are associated with high technology intensity or services sector. However, there is little empirical support for these claims. To address this gap, this paper presents an empirical analysis of age at first global entry of US manufacturing and service multinationals that entered foreign countries in the last century. Only manufacturing showed a significant rise in the number of born globals. Being born global was not correlated with either having high technology intensity or being a service firm