H. Frederick Gale

China's New Farm Subsidies

In 2004, China entered a new era in its approach to agricultural policy, as it began to subsidize rather than tax agriculture. China introduced direct subsidies to farmers, began to phase out its centuries-old agricultural tax, subsidized seed and machinery purchases, and increased spending on rural infrastructure. The new policies reflect China’s new view of agriculture as a sector needing a helping hand. The subsidies are targeted at grain producers, but they do not provide strong incentives to increase grain production.

Age-Specific Patterns of Exit and Entry in U.S. Farming, 1978–1997

Gross entry-exit rates by operator age group suggest there is still an underlying trend toward declining numbers of commercial farms, aging of the farm operator population, and an increasing share of farms operated part-time. The number of entries by young farmers declined steadily from 1978 to 1997, as did the exit rate for older operators. Between 1992 and 1997, the entry rate rebounded for farmers over age 35 and those principally employed off-farm. A sharp decline in the exit rate for midcareer farmers also helped stabilize the decline in farm numbers. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

Skills, Flexible Manufacturing Technology, and Work Organization

This study employs a national survey of over 3000 U.S. manufacturing establishments to explore associations between worker skill requirements and use of production and telecommunications technologies, work organization, and other management practices. Ordered probit equations show an empirical link between increases in each of six types of skill requirements, as reported by plant managers, and the use of flexible technologies and work organization practices. Technology use is most strongly linked to computer skill requirements. Work organization practices were strongly associated with problem-solving and interpersonal skill increases, suggesting that new work organization practices are broadening the set of skills sought by manufacturers. Traditional academic skills (e.g., math and reading) also were linked to the use of flexible technologies and work organization practices, but increases in these skill requirements were reported less frequently than were requirements for computer, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.

Rural Manufacturing on the Crest of the Wave: A Count Data Analysis of Technology Use

This study compares the extent of technology use by rural and urban manufacturing plants. Count data regression models explain technology use as a function of rural-urban indicator variables, plant characteristics, and location characteristics. The results show no difference in technology use due to rural-urban location. Characteristics of nonmetro plants, including size, prevalency of branch plants, and nature of production process, tend to raise nonmetro manufacturing technology use. Lower nonmetro schooling levels, an older labor force, and mix of industries with low technology use tend to reduce technology use in nonmetro areas. Copyright 1998, Oxford University Press.This study compares the extent of technology use by rural and urban manufacturing plants. Count data regression models explain technology use as a function of rural‐urban indicator variables, plant characteristics, and location characteristics. The results show no difference in technology use due to rural‐urban location. Characteristics of nonmetro plants, including size, prevalency of branch plants, and nature of production process, tend to raise nonmetro manufacturing technology use. Lower nonmetro schooling levels, an older labor force, and mix of industries with low technology use tend to reduce technology use in nonmetro areas.

Commercialization of Food Consumption in Rural China

Rural households in China have traditionally consumed food mostly grown on their own farms. While they continue to rely on self-produced grains, vegetables, meats, and eggs for a large portion of their diet, rural households are now purchasing more of their food as they enter the mainstream of the Chinese economy. Cash purchases of food by rural Chinese households increased 7.4 percent per year from 1994 to 2003. Consumption has shifted from self-produced to purchased food at a rate faster than can be explained by income growth or changes in other household characteristics. The move away from self-produced food is associated with lower consumption of staple grains, the most important self produced food in rural Chinese diets. Food consumed away from home is one of the fastest growing categories of rural household expenditures, doubling in budget share from 1995 to 2001. Commercialization of food consumption is diversifying Chinese diets, broadening food markets, and creating new opportunities for retailers and product distributors.

China: A Study of Dynamic Growth

Chinas rapid economic growth has been driven by high rates of investment, gains in productivity, and liberalized foreign trade and investment. Chinas growth is likely to continue, but the Chinese economy faces some possibly unsustainable pressures.

Chinese Cost of Living

Several recent studies have found that Chinese CPI understates changes in the cost of living. This finding is surprising because common CPI biases cause CPI to overstate changes in cost of living. Using data on average prices, this paper explores whether a type of new-good bias could be responsible for the bias in Chinese CPI. We do not find evidence of a new-good bias, and political tampering appears to be the most likely cause of this bias. Chinas large-scale migration may also cause changes in the cost of living that are not reflected in CPI.