Environmental Constraints, Commodity Mix, And Research Resource Allocation
The purpose of this paper is to show how the allocation of research resources among commodities and the effects of such allocations on the output mix depend upon (a) the initial production conditions, (b) the nature of the research production functions, (c) the nature of the demand relations for the commodity outputs, (d) relative factor endowments, and (e) the existence of different types of environmental constraints. The basic model used is a two-factor, two-product model in which certain types of technical change are introduced.
Market Integration: A Study of Sorghum Prices in Western India
This article examines the popular view in underdeveloped countries that there exist large regional price differences that are caused by speculative elements in trade. The data bearing on the prices of sorghum in a number of primary and terminal markets in India suggest that these differences are not caused by the activities of the traders. The analysis emphasizes the high degree of interdependence between wholesale markets in the process of price formation. Regional price differences often result from differences in varieties of the grain traded. Prices for the same product may differ because of transport costs. Price discrepancies of the order larger than transport costs may result from such factors as transport bottlenecks and government control on the movement of goods.
Trade, exchange rate, and agricultural pricing policies in Thailand
Thailand is still largely an agricultural country. In 1984, agricultural work was still the main source of earnings for more than 70 percent of the population. For much of the 25 year period covered by this report, government intervention in the prices of rice, maize, and natural rubber was extensive. For these products, intervention took the form of explicit export taxes and restrictive quotas. Sugar, on the other hand, was imported until 1960. For many years prior to that, government policy was to encourage growers and thus achieve self-sufficiency. One conclusion of this study is that the Thai sugar industry would have shrunk dramatically if the government had refrained from intervention. Intervention in the prices of rice and natural rubber had the effect of penalizing farm producers by reducing their output prices. There was, as a consequence a shift of resources towards Thailand's small industrial sector. In 1981, the Thai government lifted its quota restrictions, and liberalized its trade by eliminating its intervention in the maize, rice, sugar and natural rubber markets. Unfortunately for export growers, however, the gradual elimination of intervention was overshadowed by sharp declines in the world prices of Thailand's major agricultural exports.