Agrarian Structure in Poland the Myth of Large-farm Superiority

Agrarian Structure in Poland the Myth of Large-farm Superiority
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1996
Genre:
ISBN: 6121412534

In Poland, present policies are aimed at promoting large, mechanized farms over smaller family farms. These policies are based on the perception that large farms offer real economies of scale. But international evidence indicates that such large, mechanized farms are generally less efficient and use less labor than small family farms. The authors analyzed the relationship between farm size and efficiency in Polish agriculture. They used two different methods to do so. First they determined differences in total factor productivity between small and large farms. They then used Data Envelope Analysis to estimate scale efficiencies. The results show that, for the sample of farms analyzed: 1) large farms are not more efficient than smaller farms; and 2) smaller farms are more labor-intensive than larger farms. These results have important policy implications for farm restructuring in Poland and other transition economies facing similar issues and conditions.

The Benefits of Alternative Power Tariffs for Nigeria and Indonesia

The Benefits of Alternative Power Tariffs for Nigeria and Indonesia
Author: Alex Anas
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 86
Release: 1999
Genre:
ISBN:

May 1996 The authors present simulation results on the benefits of alternative power tariffs for Nigeria and Indonesia, based on several closely related models of the firm. Nigeria is representative of developing countries where the public sector is inefficient and manufacturers provide their own electricity to compensate for that inefficiency. The use of private generators by Nigerian manufacturers is virtually ubiquitous, even though the government, to protect its monopoly, did not encourage that use in the 1980s. About 89 percent of a sample of Nigerian firms produced some of their power needs internally. But many large firms underused their power plants because of the substantial quantity discounts public power offered to large manufacturers. By contrast, in Indonesia, manufacturers were offered only slight quantity discounts for public power. Indonesia has encouraged manufacturers to produce their own power. About 61 percent of Indonesian manufacturers produced some power internally. Generally, in both countries firms purchase some power from the public sector at a quantity discount (slight in Indonesia, considerable in Nigeria) and also produce power internally at a declining marginal cost. The reliability of public power declines as the total quantity purchased increases, because transmission gets congested. Simulations confirm that an increasing block tariff is optimal in each country and produces savings in the cost of producing public power and in firms' operating costs (including the firm's cost of producing power internally). Under increasing block tariffs, firms that purchase more public power would be charged higher marginal prices than firms that purchase less. Large firms respond to the increasing block tariff by expanding their generating capacity and reducing their reliance on public power, while smaller firms contract their capacities and buy more from the public sector. When congestion in transmission persists, cost savings are higher as the increasing block tariff reduces total use of public power which in turn improves reliability. In Nigeria, where strong quantity discounts are offered, total costs savings (for NEPA and manufacturers) under 1989 conditions are about 4 percent without congestion and increase to 9 percent when there is some congestion. In Indonesia, where quantity discounts are mild, increasing the block tariff produces only slight cost savings.

International Law and Agroecological Husbandry

International Law and Agroecological Husbandry
Author: John W. Head
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2016-11-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1315446502

Remarkable advances are being made in life science and agricultural research to reform the methods of food production, particularly with regard to staple grain and legume crops, in ways that will better reflect ecological realities. However, advances in science may be insufficient to ensure that these possibilities for agricultural reform are realized in practice and in a sustainable way. This book shows how these can only be achieved through changes in legal norms and institutions at the global level. Interdisciplinary in character, the book draws from a range of issues involving agricultural innovation, international legal history and principles, treaty commitments, global institutions, and environmental challenges, such as climate change, to propose broad legal changes for transforming global agriculture. It first shows how modern extractive agriculture is unsustainable on economic, environmental, and social grounds. It then examines the potential for natural-systems agriculture (especially perennial-polyculture systems) for overcoming the deficiencies of modern extractive agriculture, especially to offset climate change. Finally it analyses closely the legal innovations that can be adopted at national and international levels to facilitate a transition from modern extractive agriculture to a system based more on ecological principles. In particular the author argues for the creation of a Global Convention on Agroecology.

Sustaining Growth and Performance in East Asia

Sustaining Growth and Performance in East Asia
Author: Charles Harvie
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781845425630

This third book in the series focuses on how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute to achieving and sustaining growth and performance in their economies, as well as the ways in which governments can assist and enhance that contribution. This is of particular concern given the trauma suffered by East Asian economies in the wake of the financial and economic crisis of 1997-98. Faced with the need to restructure and reform their economies and thereby achieve a firm foundation for future sustainable growth, many East Asian countries actively pursued SME growth, focusing on the encouragement of entrepreneurialism in the private sector. Drawing on the insights of a wide range of SME experts, the book provides a broad coverage of important aspects of SMEs, including: the contribution of micro-enterprises to economic recovery and poverty alleviation measurement and evaluation issues managing knowledge development ethical values in SMEs the internationalisation process entry mode decisions in export markets technological sourcing and use of the Internet. Presenting a contemporary analysis of SME developments in East Asia, both academics and policymakers will find Sustaining Growth and Performance in East Asia of great interest.