Alejandro Nin

Bio: Alejandro Nin is an academic researcher from International Livestock Research Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agricultural productivity & Productivity. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 7 publications receiving 247 citations.

Bridging the Gap between Partial and Total Factor Productivity Measures Using Directional Distance Functions

Abstract: Technical dependencies as well as data constraints limit our ability to allocate inputs across sectors and hence our ability to measure sectoral productivity. We adapt a directional measure of efficiency to the measurement of sector-specific productivity that does not require allocating all inputs across sectors. Applied to the agricultural sector of a group of countries, the results show important differences in livestock and crops productivity growth. Commonly used partial factor productivity measures for livestock and crops tend to overestimate productivity growth in most developing countries while underestimating it in European countries.

Mercosur: Un Camino a la Apertura o la Consolidación de un Bloque Cerrado

Abstract: The MERCOSUR is an imperfect custom union whose Common External Tariff (CET) is lower than the one that each member applied before 1991. Revista de Economia Segunda Epoca Vol. V N° 2 Banco Central del Uruguay (*) Departamento de Economia de la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad de la Republica

China: Future Customer or Competitor in Livestock Markets?

Abstract: C hina’s future role in international agricultural trade continues to be a puzzle. Part of this puzzle, namely that related to grains, has received far more attention than has livestock trade, which has been relatively neglected. China is a net exporter of livestock products, although over the last two decades imports have been increasing faster than exports. Figure 1 shows the time path of net exports (exports – imports) of meat, essentially poultry meat and pork, presented as a fraction of total non-ruminant meat trade (exports – imports) from 1965 to 1997. Forecasts from 1997 to 2005 (discussed below) are also shown. The trend is clear. The decrease of net exports as a proportion of total trade reflects a steady deterioration of China’s comparative advantage in pork and poultry production. This begs a further question: Will China eventually become a net importer of livestock products? The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projects that China will be a major net importer of poultry meat by 2005. In contrast, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) projects an increase in China’s net exports of poultry meat in the coming decades. Resolving this controversy requires examination of the forces underpinning change in consumption patterns in China, as well as the structural changes that have been occurring in China’s livestock industry (Figure 2). Rising Demand for Livestock Products The changing patterns of food consumption in Asia are now well documented. Rapid increases in household income, with urbanization, foreign investment, and marketing have combined to shift consumption toward non-traditional cereals and value-added products, including many derived from livestock. As a consequence, meat consumption in China has risen from 13.4 kg per person in 1980 to 41.2 kg per capita in 1995 – an increase of more than 200.0 percent! This rapid growth in meat consumption helps explain the increase in meat imports. In 1991 China became a net importer of poultry meat, and by 1995 China was the world’s third largest poultry meat importer. Research suggests that this increase in meat consumption will continue until 2020, when meat consumption will reach 60 kg per capita.

Adoption of Modern Agricultural Production Technologies by Farm Households in Ghana: What Factors Influence their Decisions?

Abstract: Low adoption of modern agricultural production technologies amongst farmers in Ghana has been identified as one of the main reasons for the low agricultural productivity in the country. This paper examines the factors that influence farm households’ modern agricultural production technology adoption decisions in Ghana. Household questionnaires were administered to 300 farmers the Bawku West District of Ghana; and the logit model was estimated to ascertain the factors. The results showed that farm size, expected benefits from technology adoption, access to credit and extension services are the factors that significantly influence technology adoption decisions of farm households in the study area. It is concluded that farm households’ agricultural technology adoption decisions depends on their socio-economic circumstances and institutional effectiveness. We recommend that policies should be formulated to take advantage of the factors that positively influence farmers’ adoption of modern agricultural production technologies and to mitigate the negative ones. Key words: Agriculture, Farmers, Household, Logit Model, Ghana, Technology Adoption

Efficiency of public spending in developing countries : an efficiency frontier approach

Abstract: Government spending in developing countries typically account for between 15 and 30 percent of GDP. Hence, small changes in the efficiency of public spending could have a major impact on GDP and on the attainment of the government's objectives. The first challenge that stakeholders face is measuring efficiency. This paper attempts such quantification and has two major parts. The first part estimates efficiency as the distance between observed input-output combinations and an efficiency frontier (defined as the maximum attainable output for a given level of inputs). This frontier is estimated for several health and education output indicators by means of the Free Disposable Hull (FDH) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques. Both input-inefficiency (excess input consumption to achieve a level of output) and output-inefficiency (output shortfall for a given level of inputs) are scored in a sample of 140 countries using data from 1996 to 2002. The second part of the paper seeks to verify empirical regularities of the cross-country variation in efficiency. Results show that countries with higher expenditure levels register lower efficiency scores, as well as countries where the wage bill is a larger share of the government's budget. Similarly, countries with higher ratios of public to private financing of the service provision score lower efficiency, as do countries plagued by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and those with higher income inequality. Countries with higher aid-dependency ratios also tend to score lower in efficiency, probably due to the volatility of this type of funding that impedes medium term planning and budgeting. Though no causality may be inferred from this exercise, it points at different factors to understand why some countries might need more resources than others to achieve similar educational and health outcomes.