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Abstract: Direct sales are a widespread and important typology of the so‐called alternative food networks. They can take two basic forms: consumers going to buy agricultural products at the farm (on‐farm sales) and farmers selling their products in urban areas. We investigate the territorial distribution of direct sales practices (on‐farm and off‐farm) in Piedmont (Italy) and we assess the main determinants of these choices via probit models, separately for on‐farm and off‐farm sales. The explanatory variables comprise structural characteristics of the farms, type of farming, characteristics of the operators and of their products, and the proximity to urban and commercial areas. The most important factor affecting these choices is the type of farming (TF). The effect of other variables differs according to the TF. Conditional on it, other significant variables are generally farm location, organic farming and, especially for on‐farm direct sales, the complementarity with agro‐tourism and recreational activities. Operators’ and farm characteristics are found to affect the choice of selling directly rather weakly. [EconLit citations: Q13, Q12, R12]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study uses a panel cointegration and Error Correction Vector Autoregressive (EC‐VAR) approach to examine the long‐ and short‐run dynamics as well as the direction of causality between agricultural product prices, producer prices and consumer prices along the Finnish meat (i.e., beef, pork, and poultry), dairy (i.e., fresh milk, other milk products, cheese, and yoghurt) and egg supply chains for the period of 2005:01–2014:12. This study also examines the “cost‐push” and “demand‐pull” theories. The results indicate the presence of cointegration among the three price series for each of the eight food chains. The “demand‐pull” factors are found to have a stronger impact along the food supply chain than the “supply‐push” factors. The short‐run causality results show bidirectional causal relations among the three prices, whereas the long‐run causality findings support the assertion that consumer prices dominate the other two prices, implying an attempt by retailers to exert control over the pricing mechanisms along the Finnish food supply chain. The impulse response functions show that the agricultural product prices experience higher and more prolonged fluctuations around the long‐run equilibrium than the other two prices. [EconLit citations: Q11, C32, C33]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, agricultural products are increasingly faced with the price fluctuation risk, which has become one of the main risks, after this affects income and welfare of all value chain stakeholders from the farmer to the final consumer. In order to measure this risk, the market risk management of agricultural products was assisted. In this study we have received the "Starking" apple retail trade of Dibra Municipality in Albania. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the gross profit rate of "Starking" apple cultivar retail trade with the average market rate. It was used the determination coefficient to evaluate their impact strength. Initially, the retail prices were found in the period of time January - December 2016, these data were received by the Statistic Office, Dibra Agriculture Directory. Data processing is carried out using Excel software. Referring to the data analysis, it indicated that among gross profit rates have no strong impact. These findings are useful not only for retail traders but also for wholesalers, farmers, policymakers and for the final consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Agricultural and food prices exhibit several empirical regularities that are not easily explained by conventional perfect competition or market power models, including asymmetric price transmission, food price rigidity, farmgate price volatility, and low correlation between prices at different stages of the supply chain. We focus on this set of market features and conclude that they can be the outcome of a competition model where supermarket use promotions to strategically attract basket shoppers. We present a numerical simulation to show that complex price patterns including all the features indicated above can be obtained from a general store traffic competition model without the need of introducing ad hoc assumptions. [EconLit citations: Q11, Q13]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the role of farm stock management on price volatility under liquidity constraints and heterogeneous price expectations. In commodity markets, speculative behaviors by stockholders tend to reduce price volatility, but this is not the case in certain agricultural markets, where speculation by farmers regarding decisions to sell or store grain is subject to liquidity constraints and heterogeneous price expectations. Like stockholders, most farmers sell grain if they expect a price drop in the near future, but unlike stockholders, they are not necessarily able to purchase grain if they expect a price increase in the next period. Heterogeneous price expectations can also lead to suboptimal storage decisions, further increasing price volatility. For these reasons, the storage management behavior of farmers often fails to mitigate price drops in the way that speculation by stockholders does. We merge historical data on maize prices and household storage collected in Burkina Faso in order to build a dynamic panel over the 2005-2012 period. We show that carryover from one season to the next is associated with unexpected price drops during the preceding lean season and that carryover is associated with more frequent unexpected price drops following the subsequent post-harvest season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate how states that lifted restrictions on interstate bank expansions, thereby improving access to cheaper credit, experienced increased farm sales and net farm income. In our empirical analysis, we use nationwide county-level data from 1970 through 2001 and a difference-in-differences econometric framework, exploiting only within-state variation in banking deregulation, to distinguish the effect of an increase in bank competition from potential confounding factors. By including region-by-year fixed effects in our econometric equation, we compare changes in farm sales and expenditures in states that lift restrictions on interstate banking to changes in states that do not lift such restrictions within the same census region. Our estimates indicate that county-level farm sales increase by about 3.4% and county-level net farm income rises by $1.57 million (in 1982 dollars) after a state deregulates its banking sector by allowing interstate bank expansion. We also find evidence that farm expenditures, in particular expenditures on feed, fuel, machine and equipment rental, as well as interest payments, grew as a result of the banking deregulation. The positive impacts on farm sales, net income, and interest payments are larger in metropolitan counties than in rural counties, consistent with the notion that interstate bank entry following deregulation was concentrated in larger metropolitan markets, leading to a greater reduction in the cost of credit in those areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of Canadian agricultural business risk management (BRM) programs on farm financial performance and incentives to adopt environmental stewardship practices (i.e., Beneficial Management Practices [BMPs]). Monte Carlo simulation is used to model stochastic prices and production for a representative Alberta cropping operation. Net present value analysis is used to evaluate BRM program participation. Participation is modeled for Growing Forward and Growing Forward 2 versions of AgriInvest, AgriStability, and AgriInsurance. Adoption of select BMPs is also modeled. Results indicate that BRM program participation significantly improves farm financial performance with a corresponding reduction in risk. Much of the benefit from participation comes from subsidization associated with the programs. While changes to BRM programs under Growing Forward 2 result in reduced support, the impact on representative farm performance is small. BRM program participation reinforces incentives to adopt BMPs that already have positive net benefits (e.g., crop rotation BMPs) and increases the magnitude of disincentives (i.e., net costs) associated with adoption of land use BMPs such as wetland restoration or buffer strips. The results from this analysis raise questions related to both risk management and agri-environmental policy in terms of policy effectiveness, efficiency, and compatibility. Cet article examine les effets des programmes canadiens de gestion de risques d'entreprises (GRE) sur le rendement financier des exploitations agricoles et les mesures incitatives pour l'adoption de pratiques d'intendance environnementales (comme les pratiques de gestion bénéfiques ou PGB). La simulation Monte Carlo sert à modéliser les prix et la productions stochastiques pour une exploitation agricole albertaine représentative. L'analyse de la valeur actualisée nette sert à évaluer la participation aux programmes GRE. La participation est modélisée pour Cultivons l'avenir et Cultivons l'avenir 2, des versions d'Agri-investissement, Agri-stabilité et Agri-assurance. L'adoption de quelques PGB est aussi modélisée. Les résultats démontrent que la participation aux programmes GRE améliore considérablement le rendement financier avec une réduction correspondante du risque. Une grande part des avantages à la participation proviennent du financement associé aux programmes. La réduction du soutien résultant des modifications aux programmes GRE dans le cadre de Cultivons l'avenir 2 n'a entraîné qu'un impact minime sur le rendement de l'exploitation agricole représentative. La participation aux programmes GRE renforce les mesures incitatives pour l'adoption de PGB qui produisent déjà des avantages positifs nets (comme les PGB de la rotation des cultures) et augmente l'envergure des contre-incitations (comme le coût net) associées à l'adoption de PGB de l'exploitation des terres comme le rétablissement des zones humides ou tampons. Les résultats de ces analyses soulèvent des questions liées à l'efficacité, l'efficience et à la compatibilité à la fois des politiques de gestion du risque et agroenvironnementales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the specific needs and psychological characteristics of consumers’ online purchase behavior, combined with the specific characteristics of fresh agricultural products exhibited on the E-commerce platform, the factors affecting consumers’ purchase frequency of fresh agricultural products on the E-commerce platform were analyzed, then, an evaluation index system of consumers’ purchase frequency was established, and calculated using BP neural network algorithm. The results showed that consumers’ purchase frequency of fresh agricultural products on the E-commerce platform was mainly affected by their repeated purchase mentality, and the commodity quality and service level provided by the E-commerce platform had a significant influence on the overall consumer satisfaction, which in turn would affect consumers’ repeated purchase behavior. The attitude of customer service staff and the logistics system service adopted also had a certain impact on consumers’ choice of repeated purchase behavior. The three functioned together to influence consumers’ purchase frequency of fresh agricultural products on the E-commerce platform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates the links between commodity price bubbles and macroeconomic factors, with an application to the agricultural commodity markets in China from 2006 to 2014. Price bubbles are identified using a newly developed, recursive right-tailed unit root test. A Zero-inflated Poisson model is used to analyze the factors contributing to bubbles. Results show that (a) there were speculative bubbles in most Chinese agricultural commodity futures markets during the sample period, though their presence was infrequent; (b) economic growth, money supply, and inflation have positive effects on bubble occurrences, while interest rates have a negative effect; and (c) among all macroeconomic factors considered, economic growth and money supply have the greatest impact in triggering bubbles. Our findings shed new light on the nature and formation of bubbles in the Chinese agricultural commodity markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial markets are impacted by various seasonal anomalies. One of the best known of them is the Halloween effect. The Halloween effect means that the summer period (May-October) asset returns are lower compared to the winter period (November-April) asset returns. In the paper, price series of 20 major agricultural commodities over the 1980-2015-time period are tested for the presence of the Halloween effect. The data show that 15 out of the 20 commodities recorded a higher average winter period than summer period returns and in 10 cases, the differences are statistically significant. The data also show that out of the 5 commodities with higher summer period returns, only in the case of poultry the differences are statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retailers use price promotion of light and regular products, but not all of these products are perceived as relative virtues and vices, respectively. This paper aims to identify whether consumers distinguish between the two product categories. Survey data is used to distinguish between each product category and identifies low-fat milk as a light product that gives both immediate and delayed rewards. Daily scanner data from a hypermarket supports the effects of price promotions on sales within and between product categories, as expected. We expect that, (1) due to these light products representing more enduring involvement, demand is less price sensitive compared to demand for regular products; (2) as nonimpulse purchase products, price promotions of light products cannibalize the sales of other light products and (3) the loss of light product benefits associated with switching means that price promotions of light products hurt regular product sales more than vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an increasingly popular pedagogy in the college classroom. Students enrolled in an agricultural sales course were exposed to this teaching method through the completion of a semester-long sales project. The project requires students to work in pairs to develop a sales call plan and pitch the sale of an agricultural product or service to a potential customer. Following completion of the semester-long project, students were surveyed about their perceptions of learning using PBL, learning outcomes, and employability skills gained. Roughly half of the students (53%, n=19) recommended the instructor use problem-based activities in the course again. Additionally, students agreed the project made the subject matter more realistic (4.22 ± 0.72) and improved their comprehension (4.06 ± 0.58) on a five-point Likert scale. They agreed the Ready, Set, Sell project helped develop preparation skills (4.06 ± 0.72), presentation skills (4.06 ± 0.72), and interpersonal skills (4.06 ± 0.67). These findings yield several recommendations, including the need for additional research measuring student's learning style with PBL and comparing PBL's effectiveness to other teaching methods used in agricultural sales courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Domestic demand for walnuts has been on the rise for the last decades. Consumption outstrips domestic production capacities, which led to increasing prices until recently. Small-scale farmers are at the centre of walnut tree planting and walnut collection efforts. Farmers are now integrated into rapidly expanding agrifood value chains. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the walnut value chain originating in Yunnan (the dominant producer of walnuts in China). The authors are especially interested in the position of small-scale farmers in the chain and the factors affecting the price that they receive.Design/methodology/approach Price and intra-chain governance information were collected through structured interviews with value chain actors like certified and conventional small-scale farmers, traders, processors, food manufacturers and wholesalers. The resultant price data set was analysed using a multiple regression analysis.Findings Timing of harvest, distance to market and sales volume are correlated with the village-level price. Farmers are in a market governance segment of the chain. Lead firms (e.g. supermarkets) are price-setters and determine the value distribution, with farmers receiving a smaller share relative to downstream actors’ shares.Research limitations/implications Improved connectivity to markets, transparency of standards and price (formation), processing and certification could improve farmers’ profits.Originality/value The authors contribute to the growing literature of value chain studies focussing on farmers’ integration into food systems at different scales. The authors investigated the price determinants at the village level and additionally provide information on an organic marketing arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic cost of achieving desired environmental outcomes from uniform and variable rate fertilizer application technologies depends both on market forces and agronomic properties. Using spatial econometric methods, we analyze the impact of nitrogen fertilizer supply by terrain attribute on the yield and protein content of hard red spring wheat grown in Eastern Washington as well as the impact on residual nitrogen. We find significant association with all three. The economic impact of nitrogen restrictions depends critically on both prices and level of the restriction. Uniform application of nitrogen was found to economically outperform variable rate application, but variable rate application provided positive environmental benefits due to less residual nitrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluctuation in commodity prices is a significant and timely issue to be studied. This study is to examine the impact of monetary policy and other macroeconomic shocks on the dynamics of agricultural commodity prices. The major contributions of this study are twofold. First, unlike other studies that use indexes, this study analyzes the commodities individually, affording the inclusion of commodity-specific fundamentals such as the level of inventory-an important determinant of commodity price-in a structural VAR framework. Second, it exploits a rich data set of agricultural commodity prices which includes commodities that are usually overlooked in the literature, and extracts a common factor using the dynamic factor model to understand the extent of comovement of the prices and to gauge the extent to which macroeconomic shocks drive the 'comovement' in a factor-augmented VAR (FAVAR) framework. The findings show that monetary policy, global economic conditions, and the U.S. dollar exchange rates play an important role in the dynamics of agricultural commodity prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the dependence of Russian agriculture on imported components, and the conditions for the effective functioning of the agricultural sector capable of providing import substitution. The particular features of the development of production on the basis of domestic and borrowed innovation are considered, as well as the availability of resources and measures for import substitution in the agrofood market. A method for cost-based product price calculation is proposed, which incorporates foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Farmers' views on factors influencing the agricultural situation are presented. Finally, the article describes the potential and conditions for providing food import substitutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in agricultural commodity prices in the recent past has renewed interest in ascertaining the factors that drive agricultural commodity prices. Though a number of factors are possible, higher oil prices are thought to be the major factor driving up agricultural commodity prices, especially as the demand for biofuels production increases. However, empirical evidence of this relationship remain ambiguous and largely depends on the method used. For this reason, there is a need to examine the relationship in the context of different methodologies. Furthermore, information on how South African commodity prices respond to world oil price shocks is less certain. A good understanding of the factors that drive local commodity prices will assist in making sound agricultural policies. In this paper, the Granger causality test is applied to the mean to investigate the causality between oil prices and agricultural (soya beans, wheat, sunflower and corn) commodity prices in South Africa. Daily data spanning from 19 April 2005 to 31 July 2014 is used for Brent crude oil, corn, wheat, sunflower and soya beans prices. Agricultural commodity prices were obtained from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and the series of Brent crude oil prices from the U.S. Department of Energy. Results from the linear causality test indicate that oil prices do not influence agricultural commodity prices. However, owing to structural breaks and nonlinear dependence between the variables of study, these results are misleading. As an alternative, the nonparametric test of Granger causality in quantiles, as proposed by Jeong, Härdle and Song (2012) is used. Through this test, we not only look at causality beyond the mean estimates but also accounts for the structural breaks and nonlinear dependence present in the data. Additionally, the method becomes more instructive in the case where the distribution of variables has fat tails. The findings show that the effect of changes in oil prices on agricultural commodity prices vary across the different quantiles of the conditional distribution. The highest impact is not at the median, and the impact on the tails is lower compared to the rest of the distribution. The analysis shows that the relationship between oil prices and agricultural commodity prices depends on specific phases of the market, and therefore contradicts the neutrality hypothesis that oil prices do not cause agricultural commodity prices in South Africa. This implies that policies to stabilize domestic agricultural commodity prices must consider developments in the world oil markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2006 to 2014, close to 40 countries levied an export tax on at least one agricultural product. Export taxes impose costs on the global economy by reducing total world welfare compared to free trade, and in particular hurt the tax-imposing country’s own domestic producers of the taxed good. Yet countries with export taxes have objectives that might make it unlikely for them to eliminate, or even reduce, the taxes. This article examines how a conventional export tax could be modified to make it less market-distorting, and thereby less welfare-diminishing, for both the tax-imposing country and the rest of the world. From a total world welfare perspective, the modified policy analyzed here is a “second best” alternative to the first best policy of abolishing the export tax and allowing free trade, but nonetheless it improves global economic welfare compared to the standard export tax. The modified policy discussed here achieves the same economic objectives as the tax, such as reducing the domestic price of the exported good, increasing domestic purchases, and raising revenue, but also generates additional exports beyond the volume that occurs under the tax alone. Also, the tax does not involve any government subsidies to producers or consumers. The main original feature of the modified export tax policy therefore is that it not only increases net economic welfare (compared to the unmodified tax scenario), but does so in a way that does not reduce the welfare of any economic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relationship between forest households' livelihood strategies, and forest clearing, and the relationship of both to welfare. The analysis relies on a rich panel dataset collected on the Tsimane' communities in Bolivia to highlight how forest households combine sales and wage activities. Forest clearing is associated with all livelihood strategies, but the association with welfare differs depending on the strategy pursued. Households that clear more and that generate their earnings by combining agricultural sales and wage activities are better-off (judged in terms of assets) than those undertaking other strategies. By contrast, households in a subsistence strategy are not able to accumulate assets in the long run. Overall, households clear only small areas of forest, which has a positive effect on welfare and enables accumulation of assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contingent tariffs for agri-food commodities have been proposed as a Special Safeguard Mechanism ( SSM) in the Doha Round negotiations by the G33 group of countries as an instrument to control downward spikes in their border prices and/or surges of imports. The objective is to safeguard the livelihood security of farm households in poor countries. To date, most analysis of such tariffs uses stochastic partial equilibrium models with perfect competition. Yet in many markets for such commodities, imperfectly competitive market intermediaries play an important role in determining producers' prices, as do state trading enterprises ( STEs). A stochastic partial equilibrium model of a typical importing country situation is specified in which there are either imperfectly competitive domestic intermediaries with a contingent tariff or an STE. The role of these intermediaries in influencing price behaviour and livelihood security in the presence of contingent tariffs alters the conclusion based on models of perfect competition. Using Monte-Carlo simulation, it is shown that the efficacy of a contingent tariff is substantially reduced as the number of firms declines because increasingly they absorb the tariff, and the procurement price and producer surplus do not increase to the extent that they do under perfect competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commodity price shocks are an important type of external shock and are often cited as a problem for economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. We choose nine Sub-Saharan African countries that are heavily dependent on a single agricultural commodity for a significant portion of their income. This paper quantifies the impact of agricultural commodity price shocks using a structural non-linear dynamic model. The novel aspect of this study is that we determine whether the response of per capita GDP for the selected Sub-Saharan African countries is different to unexpected increases in agricultural commodity prices as opposed to decreases in prices. We conclude that there is very little evidence that an unanticipated price increase (decrease) will lead to a significantly different response in per capita incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising prices of agricultural commodities have renewed concerns about constraints to agricultural productivity. To assess productivity trends, total factor productivity (TFP) is generally preferred to partial productivity indexes as an indicator of technical and efficiency changes because it is more closely related to the unit costs of production. But measuring TFP is demanding of data, and developing comprehensive and comparable indexes of international agricultural TFP has been challenging. This study proposes a growth accounting approach, using FAO data on quantity changes in inputs and outputs and aggregating input changes using cost shares derived from other sources, as a consistent way of constructing agricultural TFP indexes for world agriculture. This produces aggregate growth rates for agricultural output, input and TFP at the country, regional and global levels. Results suggest that the rate of agricultural TFP growth accelerated in recent decades, especially in developing countries. Most regions of the world now rely on productivity-based growth rather than resource-based growth to raise agricultural output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general global precept is that agglomeration forces lead to migration from rural to urban areas. Yet for much of the time since the early 1970s, more people have moved from metro to nonmetro U.S. counties. The underlying causes of this pattern have changed over time with economic shocks and changing household preferences. For instance, the post 2000 period has seen a significant decline in domestic migration rates, a significant increase in commodity prices that favor rural areas, and potential changes in the valuation of natural amenities that would affect migration. This article investigates the determinants of U.S. gross migration from metro to nonmetro counties and nonmetro to metro counties for the 1995-2000 and 2005-2009 periods in order to compare the differences in rural to urban and urban to rural migration, as well as compare the 1990s to the 2005-2009 periods. More specifically, the present study extends the literature by more broadly examining the underlying factors associated with deconcentration and economic restructuring arguments of metro to nonmetro migration. The article uses (1) extensive county-to-county migration flows and (2) the utility maximization theory that extends the framework of a discrete choice model. The results show that population density, distance to urban areas, industry mix employment growth, natural amenities, and percentage of older people are key factors underlying these migration patterns. We also find a slight fading of effects of natural amenities and population density, and a slight increase in the effects of wage and employment growth from 2005-2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic agriculture is a domain that is growing rapidly both in Europe or worldwide and in Romania. However, there is a limited number of researches which, by the used methodology, are able to offer a definite and appropriate image of the Romanian market of organic products. In this respect, we considered as relevant to conduct certain market researches which can offer a wide image of the Romanian market of organic products. The present study aimed to briefly present some ideas learned from these researches concerning the level of confidence that the Romanian consumer has in organic products and the way in which the level of confidence may influence the purchasing behavior. Among the most important conclusions, it could be mentioned the low level of confidence that a large number of Romanian consumers has regarding the organic products, the decision to buy organic products is strongly influenced by the confidence expressed by the consumer, as well as the lack of confidence in organic products represents one of the main reasons for not buying it, in some cases being more important than the high price. After a deeper analysis, the final conclusion is that, at least partially, the low level of confidence in organic products is determined by the confusion and the low information level, on one hand, and by some producers' practices that so not seem to comply with the certification community norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 has been typically viewed as being the Republican Party’s policy response to weak farm prices which – via political logrolling – snowballed into a full-fledged, across-the-board tariff bill, wreaking havoc at home and abroad (Irwin 2011; Shattschneider 1935; Taussig 1930). Empirical evidence, however, has failed to confirm this hypothesis (Callahan, McDonald and O’Brien 1994; Destler 1986; Pastor 1980). Rather, voting patterns in the Senate have been consistent with the “party platform” hypothesis. This paper presents an alternative account of the origins of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which is in keeping with the “party platform” hypothesis, and whose results are consistent with the “log-rolling” hypothesis. Specifically, I argue that the demand for protection on the part of U.S. farmers and manufacturers in the late 1920s, and the subsequent supply of protection by the Republican Party, were the direct result of a general-purpose technology shock – namely, electrification whose diffusion throughout the 1920s led to significant excess capacity in manufacturing and agriculture. In manufacturing, more productive firms became increasingly constrained on product markets. The resulting tractorization of U.S. agriculture and the motorization (trucks and automobiles) of transportation throughout the 1920s wreaked havoc on an already weakened agricultural sector (owing to lower post-war exports) by decreasing the demand by 48,294,887 grain- and hayequivalent acres. The proposed tariff bill sought to increase domestic firms’ market share in these industries by reducing imports. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There exists a large literature on price transmission in agro-food sectors. However, a great majority of empirical studies focus on the existence of asymmetry and, by and large, do not investigate the reason for its presence or absence. This is in sharp contrast to the theoretical literature that provides a number of explanations of why we should expect (a)symmetry. In response, this paper investigates the reasons for asymmetric price transmission in the agro-food chain, using meta-analysis of existing studies. Our focus is on the organizational and institutional characteristics of the agro-food supply chain. Our findings suggest that asymmetric price transmission in farm-retail relationships is more likely to occur in sectors/countries with more fragmented farm structure, higher governmental support and more restrictive regulations on price controls in the retail sector. On the other hand, more restrictive regulations on entry barriers in the retail sector and the relative importance of the sector tend to promote symmetric farm-retail price transmission. The latter is also more likely in the presence of a strong processing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to respond to modern market demands and stringent fiscal and labour rules, the nowadays farms are shifting more and more to small enterprises. At the present days the supermarkets chains are the main sales channel with still increasing rule, so only farms organized in bigger production and sales units gain the possibility to act as an equal partner for them. The research was carried out in Poland on thirty commercial fruit farms mostly with apple production in the years 2012-2013. Owners of sixteen farms were members of Producer Organizations (POs) and fourteen farms were owned by non-members. All data necessary for the calculation of the costs and profitability were obtained from producers who answered special questionnaires and participated in additional interviews. By calculating the profitability of the farms the subsidies belonged to POs were not directly taken into the account, because they go to the organization not to a single producer. Fruit growers in Poland, members of producer organizations have many economic benefits over their non-PO-members competitors. Accordingly to inquiry done during the investigation the most important advantage is to sale greater quantities of fruit at lower unit costs due to maintaining shared (mutually owned) storages, grading and packaging facilities. The others most important are reduced economical risk and lower transaction costs. The achieved unit price was on average 21.5% lower in the case of the members of PO's, and the unit costs were on average 29.5% lower than those ones for individual farms. Then the total income of farm was taken into account the POs were unquestioned winners, with bigger value of market output per farm and higher net income per farm. The average individual farm selling fruits on its own had lower total net income per farm and smaller market output. The owners of individual farms also spend much more time to sell their fruit. By joining the cooperative farmers could increase their sale of fruit and save the time they otherwise spend for selling them individually. The members of POs have more time for better production practices which are very important for the quality of produced fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Itinerant traders provide an important route for West Africa's farmers' to get their perishable produce rapidly to the distant urban markets. But these farmers often accuse the traders of offering 'unfairly' low prices while preventing direct access to these markets. Using Ghana's tomato sector as a case study, we provide the first detailed exploration of the interface between Ghana's farmers and traders, combining a theoretical model with novel empirical data on daily sales prices and tomato quality. We find that although the prices traders pay farmers are lower than prices in the urban markets, taking into account transport costs, these prices are higher than farmers receive from the local rural market. Our article suggests that policymakers would do better to focus on opening up access to the urban markets rather than on strengthening farmers' bargaining power with the traders, which restricts market volumes further and harms farmers unable to sell to traders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was undertaken to investigate how willing would farmers be to pay for agricultural extension service in Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 268 respondents. Results showed that most farmers (95.1 per cent) were willing to pay for improved extension service as long as the service remained relevant to their needs. Farmers were willing to pay N1000 annually as their own share of the service cost. The most important factors that influenced farmers' willingness to pay were states of origin, items originally paid for, major occupation, minor occupation, number of years in school and sale of farm produce. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study aims to describe the evolution of the organisational structure of raw agricultural product markets in West African countries (the supply may be regarded as fixed) using microeconomic models to assess the evolution of the farm gate price; and focusing on the impact of the vertical integration of some firms on the producer price. This paper shows that the evolution of the commercial organisational structure of agricultural products has led to a gradual improvement in the producer price. It also shows that whatever the degree of vertical integration on these markets, it has a positive impact on the farm gate price. However, even if vertical integration also improves the price of agricultural input on the intermediary market, the intermediary firms undergo a deteriorating situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]