1,721,022 research outputs found
Transaction costs and trade liberalization: An empirical perspective from the MERCOSUR agreement
No full textStudies investigating the effect of trade liberalization policies on transaction costs in agricultural markets are scarce. The objective of our paper is to determine whether Brazil became more integrated with reduced transaction costs after the introduction of MERCOSUR with respect to its main agricultural trade partners, Argentina (a MERCOSUR member) and the United States (a non-MERCOSUR member). Using a threshold vector error correction model (TVECM), we estimate the transaction cost, price transmission elasticity and half-life adjustments for the most traded agricultural products between Brazil/Argentina and Brazil/United States from January 1980 to December 2012. Our findings suggest a strong MERCOSUR effect, with lower transaction costs and higher price transmission elasticity when compared to a non-agreement scenario. Moreover, the variations of both parameters are highly heterogeneous across products, depending mainly on their degree of differentiation. From a policy perspective, elements such as the sources of comparative and competitive advantages together with investment policies, specific market regulations and agricultural subsidies, among others, are mainly what influence the extent of transaction cost and market integration. Our results show that Brazil has made progress but still has considerable room for improvement in reducing barriers to agricultural products and, as a consequence, to achieving the full benefits of the MERCOSUR agreement. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Effects of intra- and inter-regional geographic diversification and product diversification on export performance: Evidence from the Chilean fresh fruit export sector
No full textThis study examines individually the effects of intra- and inter-regional geographic diversification on the export performance of firms from the Chilean fresh fruit sector. It also explores the direct effect of related product diversification on export performance and its role as a moderator in the relationship between geographic diversification and export performance. By employing panel trade data of 279 purely exporting firms over a six-years period (2010–2015), we found that both intra- and inter-regional diversification have an inverted U-shaped relationship with export performance, where moderate levels of diversification have positive effects on export performance, but higher levels may be counterproductive. Results also showed that related product diversification has a positive effect on firm export performance and a negative moderating effect on the relationship between inter-regional diversification and export performance. In the case of intra-regional diversification, we did not find any moderating effect from product diversification. By focusing on firms from the agricultural sector based in an emerging economy, this study offers practical implications for firm managers, trade organizations and private export associations, that may also be applicable to other export-based activities and emerging economies
What drives stock market integration? An analysis using agribusiness stocks
No full textThis article explores the drivers of regional stock market integration with a focus on the agribusiness sector across relevant regional trade blocs around the world. We implement panel cointegration models to analyze the stock indices of agribusiness firms in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), European Union (EU), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Based on the literature on market integration and stock return pricing, we identify nine possible determinants of stock market integration, which we separate into three categories: individual market performance, macroeconomic conditions, and agricultural trade. In our analysis, we account for agriculture-specific factors to control for possible structural shifts in financial markets regimes by including the two main commodity price bubbles during last 20 years. Our results show that most of the variables included in our categories have been important factors in promoting regional stock market integration. Moreover, integration among regional stock markets was strengthened by the implementation of trade agreements. This effect is stronger in trade blocs with fewer members, such as NAFTA and MERCOSUR, compared with larger and more heterogeneous blocs, such as the EU and APEC
Planned behavior and social capital: Understanding farmers’ behavior toward pressurized irrigation technologies
No full textEl mercado chileno de trigo y su mecanismo de protección de precios: un análisis de integración espacial de mercados
No full textThis research investigates the spatial market integration of the Chilean wheat market in relation with its most representative international markets by using a vector error correction model (VECM) and how a price support policy, as a price band, affect it. The international market was characterized by two relevant wheat prices: PAN from Argentina and Hard Red Winter from the United States. The spatial market integration level, expressed in the error correction term (ECT), allowed concluding that there is a high integration degree among these markets with a variable influence of the price band mechanism mainly related with its estimation methodology. Moreover, this paper showed that Chile can be seen as price taker as long as the speed of its adjustment to international shocks, being these reactions faster than in the United States and Argentina. Finally, the results validated the "Law of the One Price", which assumes price equalization across all local markets in the long run
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Understanding the role of social capital in adoption decisions : An application to irrigation technology
No full textRecently, social capital has gained importance in explaining technology adoption decisions by farmers. In this paper, we examine the impact of social capital on the adoption of irrigation technology and irrigation scheduling among wine producers in Central Chile. We propose three hypotheses: that trust and networks affect positively the adoption of both technologies (H1 and H2) and that trust is positively related to networks (H3). First, we identify seven different components of social capital: general trust, trust in institutions, trust in water communities, norms, formal networks, informal networks, and size of networks. Second, we estimate two Partial Least Squares models using as endogenous variables irrigation technology adoption and adoption of irrigation scheduling. Both models tested confirm the relevance of our interpretation of the use of social capital and its implications in understanding producers’ behaviour towards adoption of technologies. The three hypotheses tested positive. Trust in institutions, and formal and informal networks have a positive impact on the adoption of both technologies. General trust has a positive relationship with formal and informal networks. Human capital also has a strong relationship with networks, which allows us to argue that networks are the main catalysts of social capital. As expected, physical and human capital have a positive and significant relationship with adoption. Our results support that extension efforts should consider social networks, not just economic or individual-level predictors, in promoting agricultural innovations.</p
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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