Suwen Pan

Impact Assessment of Bt Corn Adoption in the Philippines

This article examines the impact of Bt corn adoption in the Philippines using an econometric approach that addresses simultaneity, selection, and censoring problems. Although previous literature emphasizes the importance of simultaneity and selection problems, this is the first study that addresses the issue of censoring in estimating the effects of Bt corn adoption at the farm in a developing country context. We show that Bt corn adoption provides modest but statistically significant increases in farm yields and profits. Furthermore, our results provide some evidence of inference errors that can potentially arise when censoring in the pesticide application variable is ignored in the estimation procedures.

Chinese domestic textile demand: where they buy does matter

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of distribution channels on demand for apparel, home textiles, and other textiles (including shoes) in urban China. Design/methodology/approach – The estimation procedure used in this study is implemented in three steps: first, the price/unit value information is estimated; second, the parameters for a set of demand systems are estimated; and third, the J-test and likelihood ratio testing are used to determine the most suitable model for the data set. Findings – The results indicate that households spend more on apparel than home textiles and other textile products if they purchase textile products from small stores. It also indicates that they would spend more on home textiles and other textiles if they purchase from chain stores and supermarkets. Originality/value – The estimation of Chinese textile consumption presents a significant challenge to both academic researchers and industry, due to Chinas large population, income inequality, different consumption channels, and other related issues. First, the results presented in the paper provide a clear indication for textile producers, exporters, and others to choose their distribution channels to target specific customers; second, the disaggregated textile expenditure and price elasticity estimates from this article can be used in various analytical procedures (i.e. simulation models) to evaluate the welfare effects of domestic policies and international trade policies. Quantification of the welfare impacts of domestic policies and international trade policies would be more meaningful if disaggregate textile elasticity estimates are used in simulation models.

Does Financial Intermediation Development Increase Per Capita Income in Rural China

This paper investigates the impacts of financial intermediary (or banking) development on village-level per capita income using a Chinese dataset for selected years between 1993 and 2006. The empirical results from a random effect regression model indicate that mean per capita income in rural villages follows an inverted U-shaped path as financial intermediation develops. However, using a pooled quantile regression approach, we find that median per capita income in rural villages follows a positive linear path, rather than an inverted U-shaped path, as financial intermediation develops. The positive linear effect of financial intermediary development is observed at the lower and higher ends of the conditional per capita income distribution. This suggests that development of financial intermediation in China might not have statistically significant differential effects in low-income or high-income rural villages.