Environmental sustainability has become a policy priority in China. In agriculture, China has had major success in rehabilitating desertified lands through programs to convert steeply-sloped cropland to forest and lim...Environmental sustainability has become a policy priority in China. In agriculture, China has had major success in rehabilitating desertified lands through programs to convert steeply-sloped cropland to forest and limit grazing on sensitive grasslands. However, little has been done in terms of policies for agricultural nutrient management. Runoff and leaching of nutrients in chemical fertilizers and livestock manure are widely acknowledged as significant problems in China. This paper presents an evaluation of agricultural nonpoint pollution control options for China. Options analyzed include design standards（command ＆ control）, performance standards, and design and performance incentives. Evaluation criteria include economic efficiency and effectiveness, environmental impact and risk, and social criteria such as equity and food security. The evaluation indicates that the best options for China involve subsidies to farmers for changing production practices in order to reduce nonpoint emissions, combined with appropriate farmer education and technical assistance.展开更多
The existing literature on innovation concentrates mostly on large industrial firms and high-technology industries,whereas,little attention has been given to agribusiness.Empirical evidence regarding the driving force...The existing literature on innovation concentrates mostly on large industrial firms and high-technology industries,whereas,little attention has been given to agribusiness.Empirical evidence regarding the driving forces behind innovation in agribusinesses in developing countries,China in particular is scarce.This paper helps fill that void.It develops a framework in which innovation results from synergies between internal resources and external networks.This paper applies and tests the framework using 2003-2005 data from a panel survey of 32 leading agribusiness firms in Shandong Province,China.The empirical results indicate the importance of internal resources,external networks and the synergies between them.We find that R&D expenditures and the number of technical employees are internal resources that are both important to product innovation.Surprisingly,management quality is negatively related to the possession of a unique technology and new products as a proportion of all products.It is possible that management quality is associated with more formalization and rigidity in decision-making,hindering creativity and lengthening the new product development cycle.In order to develop innovative products,our results suggest that investing in R&D and hiring more technical staff may be more effective approaches than spending on managerial talent.展开更多
文摘Environmental sustainability has become a policy priority in China. In agriculture, China has had major success in rehabilitating desertified lands through programs to convert steeply-sloped cropland to forest and limit grazing on sensitive grasslands. However, little has been done in terms of policies for agricultural nutrient management. Runoff and leaching of nutrients in chemical fertilizers and livestock manure are widely acknowledged as significant problems in China. This paper presents an evaluation of agricultural nonpoint pollution control options for China. Options analyzed include design standards（command ＆ control）, performance standards, and design and performance incentives. Evaluation criteria include economic efficiency and effectiveness, environmental impact and risk, and social criteria such as equity and food security. The evaluation indicates that the best options for China involve subsidies to farmers for changing production practices in order to reduce nonpoint emissions, combined with appropriate farmer education and technical assistance.
文摘The existing literature on innovation concentrates mostly on large industrial firms and high-technology industries,whereas,little attention has been given to agribusiness.Empirical evidence regarding the driving forces behind innovation in agribusinesses in developing countries,China in particular is scarce.This paper helps fill that void.It develops a framework in which innovation results from synergies between internal resources and external networks.This paper applies and tests the framework using 2003-2005 data from a panel survey of 32 leading agribusiness firms in Shandong Province,China.The empirical results indicate the importance of internal resources,external networks and the synergies between them.We find that R&D expenditures and the number of technical employees are internal resources that are both important to product innovation.Surprisingly,management quality is negatively related to the possession of a unique technology and new products as a proportion of all products.It is possible that management quality is associated with more formalization and rigidity in decision-making,hindering creativity and lengthening the new product development cycle.In order to develop innovative products,our results suggest that investing in R&D and hiring more technical staff may be more effective approaches than spending on managerial talent.
