Public economics after neoliberalism: A theoreticalhistorical perspective

Abstract Musgravean public economics, as the dominant public policy framework of the post-WWII era, argued that the government can and should supplement the price mechanism in order to create a social order within which a democratic society can flourish. Starting with the late 1970s, this project of public economics has been challenged by the growing dominance of neoliberalism as a form of governmentality that extends the economic logic of markets into the domain of the state and its mode of exercising sovereignty over its subjects. After outlining the historical and the disciplinary context of this challenge, the article maintains that endogenous theoretical confrontations internal to public economics should also be taken into consideration to provide a fuller account of the eclipse of the Musgravean public economics in the era of neoliberalism. Keywords Public economics after neoliberalism: A theoretical-historical perspective Abstract Musgravean public economics, as the dominant public policy framework of the post-WWII era, argued that the government can and should supplement the price mechanism in order to create a social order within which a democratic society can flourish. Starting with the late 1970s, this project of public economics has been challenged by the growing dominance of neoliberalism as a form of governmentality that extends the economic logic of markets into the domain of the state and its mode of exercising sovereignty over its subjects. After outlining the historical and the disciplinary context of this challenge, the article maintains that endogenous theoretical confrontations internal to public economics should also be taken into consideration to provide a fuller account of the eclipse of the Musgravean public economics in the era of neoliberalism

Family dairy farms in the Podlasie province, Poland: farm typology according to farming system

The aim of this paper is to establish a farm typology according to the dairy farming systems in the western part of the Podlasie province. Data of 39 variables was collected by a survey to owners of 123 family farms. A two-stage multivariate analysis was conducted in order to determine farm typology. Three principal components were detected, explaining 80.4% of the total variance. The cluster analysis identified five groups of farms. In two groups the cow productivity is the biggest in the area. A third group contains the smallest and lowest cow productivity farms, with high proportion of non-agricultural activities. One of the two remaining groups has better soil quality and medium cow productivity. The other group has low or medium soil quality but cow productivity is higher than in the fourth group. The SWOT analysis shows different weaknesses and strengths for different groups, as well as those common to a larger number of groups. Weaknesses are related to small farm size, large number of workers, low or medium soil quality and low or medium level of technology. Strengths are related to a large share of fodder crops, low livestock density, diversification of agrarian activities and acceptable cow productivity. On the other hand, general opportunities are linked to the EU-CAP evolution and to the presence of cooperatives in the region, whereas general threats derive from a hypothetic increase of feed prices and quantity of milk produced in the EU, which could lead to a fall in milk prices.El objetivo de este trabajo es establecer tipologías de sistemas lecheros en el oeste de Podlasia (Polonia). Se analizaron 39 variables a partir de encuestas realizadas a propietarios de 123 explotaciones. Tras el análisis multivariante en dos etapas (factorial y cluster) se encontraron tres componentes principales que explican el 80,4% de la varianza total y se obtuvieron cinco grupos de explotaciones. En dos de los grupos la productividad de las vacas es la mayor de la zona. Un tercer grupo tiene las granjas más pequeñas y menos productivas, con una mayor proporción de actividades no agrarias. El cuarto tiene los suelos de mejor calidad y una productividad de las vacas media y el quinto tiene suelos de calidad media o baja pero una productividad de las vacas superior. En general, las debilidades están relacionadas con una escasa dimensión de las granjas, un elevado número de trabajadores, una baja o media calidad de los suelos y un bajo o mediano nivel de tecnología. Las fortalezas están relacionadas con la abundancia de cultivos forrajeros, una carga ganadera baja, una aceptable diversificación agraria y una aceptable productividad de las vacas. Las principales oportunidades están ligadas a la evolución de la PAC de la UE y a la presencia de cooperativas para la comercialización de la leche. Las principales amenazas derivan de los posibles incrementos de precios de los alimentos para el ganado y de leche producida en la UE, que puede conducir a una caída de los precios de venta de la leche

Adrenal function recovery after durable oral corticosteroid sparing with benralizumab in the PONENTE study

Background Oral corticosteroid (OCS) dependence among patients with severe eosinophilic asthma can cause adverse outcomes, including adrenal insufficiency. PONENTE's OCS reduction phase showed that, following benralizumab initiation, 91.5% of patients eliminated corticosteroids or achieved a final dosage ≤5 mg·day-1 (median (range) 0.0 (0.0-40.0) mg). Methods The maintenance phase assessed the durability of corticosteroid reduction and further adrenal function recovery. For ~6 months, patients continued benralizumab 30 mg every 8 weeks without corticosteroids or with the final dosage achieved during the reduction phase. Investigators could prescribe corticosteroids for asthma exacerbations or increase daily dosages for asthma control deteriorations. Outcomes included changes in daily OCS dosage, Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-6 and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), as well as adrenal status, asthma exacerbations and adverse events. Results 598 patients entered PONENTE; 563 (94.1%) completed the reduction phase and entered the maintenance phase. From the end of reduction to the end of maintenance, the median (range) OCS dosage was unchanged (0.0 (0.0-40.0) mg), 3.2% (n=18/563) of patients experienced daily dosage increases, the mean ACQ-6 score decreased from 1.26 to 1.18 and 84.5% (n=476/563) of patients were exacerbation free. The mean SGRQ improvement (-19.65 points) from baseline to the end of maintenance indicated substantial quality-of-life improvements. Of patients entering the maintenance phase with adrenal insufficiency, 32.4% (n=104/321) demonstrated an improvement in adrenal function. Adverse events were consistent with previous reports. Conclusions Most patients successfully maintained maximal OCS reduction while achieving improved asthma control with few exacerbations and maintaining or recovering adrenal function

Capital structure optimization in individual farms based on cash flow

W opracowaniu przedstawiono wyniki optymalizacji nieliniowej dostępnych źródeł finansowania gospodarstwa rolniczych przy wykorzystaniu danych FADN-PL dla 2007 roku. Na podstawie modelu oszacowanego strukturę kapitału dla gospodarstw o typie rolniczym „uprawy polowe” o najwyższym i najniższym zadłużeniu. Na podstawie badań stwierdzono iż optymalizacja źródeł finansowania pozwala na zwiększenie salda z działalności operacyjnej oraz dochodu z rodzinnego gospodarstwa rolnego. Uzyskany optymalny koszt kapitału dla danej struktury dostępnego finansowania przyczynił się do poprawy rentowności kapitału własnego.The paper presents results of capital structure optimization according to available sources of financing in agriculture farms. The model of optimization was calculated in 2007 and was based on the FADN data, only for “crop filed” farms, with the highest and the lowest debt. According to obtained results of research it ascertained that optimization of capital structure caused higher family income and balance of operating activity of farms. The optimal cost of capital for particular capital structure contributed to improvement of the return on equity of farms

The role of equity capital in agriculture holdings

Celem badań było przedstawienie roli kapitału własnego w opinii zarządzających w finansowaniu działalności towarowych gospodarstw rolniczych. Dane empiryczne wykorzystane dla celów określenia struktury kapitału w gospodarstwach towarowych w Polsce pochodziły z bazy FADN, natomiast opinie rolników pozyskano metodą kwestionariusza wywiadu. Kapitał własny pełni istotną rolę w finansowania działalności towarowych gospodarstw rolniczych. Znaczenie tego źródła finansowania wiąże się ze specyfiką produkcji, a także ograniczonymi możliwościami zmiany struktury kapitału. Samofinansowanie działalności towarowych gospodarstw rolniczych przyczynia się m.in. do zwiększenie rentowności kapitału własnego, głównie w gospodarstwach silniejszych ekonomicznie oraz możliwości wzrostu rentowności produkcji, co nie zostało jednak potwierdzone dla gospodarstw silniejszych ekonomicznie.The paper presents the role of equity capital in financing agriculture farms. The empirical data for holding farms was based on the FADN data, while opinion of framers were collected by questionnaire method. The equity capital in farms played a significant role, which could be ascertained by high level of this source in assets. This factor influenced increasing profitability of equity capital (mainly in farms with high economic power) and possibilities of further development, as well as improvement of financing stability

The role of financial sources in individual farms investments

Przedstawiono opinie rolników na temat źródeł finansowania wdrażanych inwestycji w gospodarstwach rolniczych. Wyniki badań dotyczące przeznaczenia wdrażanych inwestycji wskazują na znaczący udział środków własnych w ich finansowaniu. Gospodarstwa o najmniejszej powierzchni oraz najniższej sile ekonomicznej odnotowały najwyższy udział odpowiedzi dotyczących braku nakładów inwestycyjnych w ostatnich czterech latach prowadzonej działalności rolniczej.The elaboration presents the differentiation of the financial sources use in agricultural farms investments located within the framework of the PADN. The research was performed with the usage of the questionnaire interview and became remained in 2008 on the group of 100 farmers in Mazowsze province. The research deals with the accepted agricultural cropland area and economic size unit classification. The aim of research covers also problem connected with selection of2financial source assigned to investments implementation

The debt level vs. agriculture income in individual farms

Przedstawiono zależność pomiędzy dochodem z rodzinnego gospodarstwa rolnego a poziomem zadłużenia w indywidualnych gospodarstwach rolniczych. Wyniki badań wskazały na przewagę gospodarstw bardziej zadłużonych, zarówno pod względem rentowności, jak i dochodowości ziemi. Wynikało to z istotnego zróżnicowania poziomu uzyskiwanego dochodu z rodzinnego gospodarstwa rolnego w zależności od efektywnego wykorzystania kapitału obcego.The ains to present the relation between the debt level and the farm income in agriculture holdings. According to obtained results of research ascertained that in farms with the highest debt level, the return on assets and equity were higher. It was connected with significant differentiation of farm income in researched group according to debt level of farms