Hironori Yagi

Evaluating the Impact of Geographic Concentration on Nepalese Agricultural Export

This study observed and analyzed the behaviour of Nepalese agricultural export using vector error correction model (VECM). The first part of the analysis focused on the dynamic relationship among agricultural export, geographic concentration and total agricultural production. Results of the study revealed that Nepalese agricultural export was very much dependent on the Indian markets and had positive relation with the geographic concentration index in the long run. The significant and higher error correction term indicated that the short-run fluctuations in geographic concentration and agricultural production were promptly adjusted to its long-run trend. The long-run effect of agricultural production increment on export was positive. The second part of the analysis focused on the export of niche products. The analysis in vector auto regression (VAR) form indicated that the relationship between export of niche products and geographic concentration was insignificant. Granger causality test revealed that the production granger causes export and export granger causes geographic concentration.

External relationships and entrepreneurial orientation of tea manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka

The purpose of this study is to examine the relation of external relationships and entrepreneurial infrastructure on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of tea manufacturing firms. An empirical survey was conducted with tea manufacturing firms located in a low grown area in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected by administering a structured questionnaire at 109 tea factories. The findings indicated the importance of external relationships; specifically, relationships with supply chain partners and relationships with government facilitating institutions enhance the EO of tea manufacturing firms. However, relationships with other tea factories and educational and research institutions are not significant influences on firms’ EO in the context of the Sri Lankan tea industry. When considering the dimensions of EO, risk taking is influenced by external relationships and not innovativeness and proactiveness. Further, the entrepreneurial infrastructure provided by related institutions except other tea factorie...

Agricultural Production and Related Business by Public Firms: A Case Study on Xinhua Farm, Heilongjiang

We evaluated the current status of rice production in Heilongjiang Province based on our survey interviews of Xinhua farmers. First, there is the problem of the gap between farmers on state and conventional farms. The scale of conventional farming is small, and suffers from so-called structural problems. Social unrest will increase with further widening of the gap between the rich and poor. If a subset of farmers moves to large-scale operations with machineries, then securing employment opportunities for the remaining farmers will become an issue. Second, farmers will have difficulties in achieving a further increase in the volume of production by yield increase and farmland reclamation. Third, regarding rice-planting machines and driers, while current performance is not high, their gradual but growing use has a high potential to increase operational efficiency. Fourth, because farmers use few organic fertilizers such as compost, and depend on chemical fertilizers, profitability will worsen as prices for these resources increase. Fifth, labor costs will trend upward with the rise in GDP. Sixth is the problem of water resources and securing prime agricultural land. The demand for water from cities and factories is high, and it is possible that water resources will become tight in the future.

Industrial Agglomeration of the Food Industry in China: An Analysis of Data by Province

On the basis of statistical data from provinces and autonomous regions, we analyze trends in industrial agglomeration in the food industry using specialization coefficients and the level of gross industrial output, and examine their relationships with the rate of return in the industry. We showed that the level of gross industrial output of China’s three major food industries (food processing, food manufacturing, and beverage manufacturing) which accounts for 7.5 % of all industries, increased 1.66 times in the period between 1999 and 2003. Agglomeration had been even accelerated in provinces with high rate of agglomeration at the beginning of the period. Provinces with a large share of food processing and manufacturing production had a growing share of the output of food industry as a whole; however, those with a large share of beverage manufacturing production did not necessarily account for a large portion of food industry production as a whole. The positive correlation between the specialization coefficient and the profit margin on sales in food industries supports the positive externality effects of agglomeration within the industry.

An empirical application of the linear programming model to agricultural land uise planning: A valuation of externalities on farmland plots from unused land

In recent years, a number of attempts have been made to construct Regional Linear Programming (RLP) models of agricultural land use to support rational and efficient land-use planning (Campbell et al. 1992; Moxey 1994; Groeneveld and Van Ierland 2000). These studies were usually based on the common set of assumptions that observed land use would be optimal as a result of profit maximization and that all farmers in the region would apply principles of cost minimization or utility maximization. The substantial data requirements for such studies have led to several kinds of adjustment to the RLP approach being suggested, such as introducing upper or lower limits of change from the baseline situation. Such adjustments were often found to be unsatisfactory and Howitt (1995) introduced an alternative approach, Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP), which has since been applied to various situations. In this paper, we implement a technique similar to PMP, in which observed land-use patterns in Japan are used as a criterion for calibration of unknown coefficients. When applied to a Japanese agricultural context of rice paddy fields in an upland situation, this approach has two main problems. First, land-use decisions for field plots must be taken discretely since their boundaries are unlikely to be changed easily in order to keep on impounding irrigation water into the field. Consequently, a dual approach cannot be taken in the same way as PMP. Second, it is crucial for land-use models to consider inter-spatial effects between land-use units. The productivity of land is not only based on the productivity of individual units but also on externalities between land units: thus, if a farm plot is abandoned this action may affect surrounding plots. In an attempt to tackle these problems, we introduce two variations of the ordinary RLP model: a constraint technique taking account of externalities; and an empirical criterion for calculating an unknown coefficient of externalities. First, a brief introduction to Japanese policy instruments for maintaining farmland in the Less Favoured Areas (LFA) is given. Second, a theoretical model with a simple example is shown to explain the RLP model and its modification. Then a summary of a case study of Japanese Less Favoured Areas is presented. Finally, we discuss the suitability of applying this approach to land use in the UK.