Agricultural opportunity costs assessment based on planting suitability:a case study in a mountain county in southwest China

Payment for ecosystem services(PES) has become an increasingly popular means of ecosystem conservation. Opportunity cost is an important factor to increase the investment efficiency of PES projects.However, the distribution of opportunity cost is usually unclear in mountainous regions due to the obvious environment changes. In this study, we developed a framework to assess the distribution of agricultural opportunity costs in mountainous regions and applied this method to Baoxing County, a typical mountainous county in Sichuan Province of southwest China. Planting suitability of 17 crops was assessed based on agricultural statistics and natural conditions data within a GIS environment.Agricultural opportunity cost was quantified with a weighted summation of farmers' willingness to cultivate and each crop's opportunity cost. Finally,specific agricultural opportunity cost was obtained according to the spatial areas of the protection programs and land use status. The results showed that agricultural opportunity costs of PES in Baoxing County were estimated to be more than $30 million,with a mean of 400.85 $/ha. Agricultural opportunity costs in mountainous regions displayed some obvious spatial variation and areas with lower agricultural opportunity costs could be selected as priority areas for PES. Our findings revealed that the planting suitability evaluation can make agricultural opportunity costs mapping more reasonable. It will be helpful for the PES programs implementation in mountainous regions.

Estimating the opportunity costs of avoiding oil palm-based deforestation in Indonesia:Implications for REDD

Reducing emissions due to deforestation is considered a low-cost option for mitigating climate change.However,the recent literature suggests higher opportunity costs because of specific deforestation drivers,which render reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation(REDD+)for mitigating climate change an uncertain,less attractive,and controversial option.Indonesia is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters.Since 1989,53.80%of its oil palm expansion has come from forestlands,which has generated a significant amount of carbon emissions.This study uses official data and results from the relevant literature to estimate the costs of oil palm-based deforestation under various scenario assumptions,including different output prices,yields,time horizons,and discount rates.We also calculate the additional cost to preserve a 1-ha forest.We demonstrate that the average opportunity cost from avoiding oil palm-based deforestation is 24.42 USD/tCO_(2)eq in Indonesia,approximately 1.3 times the 2011 EUA carbon price.Additional sums of around 5,466.90–11,042.96 USD/ha should be provided to landowners for the deforestation avoidance caused by oil palm expansion.Special attention should be given to the extensive oil palm expansion in Indonesia and the resulting high opportunity costs for achieving the REDD+​target.

Multi-QoS Guaranteed Resource Allocation for Multi-Services Based on Opportunity Costs

To meet the booming development of diversified services and new applications in the future, the fifth-generation mobile conmmnication system （5G） has arisen. Resources are increasingly scarce in the @namic time-varying of 5G networks. Allocating resources effectively and ensuring quality of service （QoS） requirements of multi-seiwices come to be a research focus. In this paper, we utilize effective capacity to build a utility function with multi-QoS metrics, including rate, delay bound and packet loss ratio. Taking advantage of opportunity cost （OC）, we also propose a multi-QoS guaranteed resource allocation algm＇ithm for multi-services to consider the future condition of system. In the algorithm, according to different business characteristics and the theory of OC, we propose different selection conditions for QoS users and best effort （BE） users to choose more reasonable resources. Finally, simulation results show that our proposed algorithm achieves superior system utility and relatively better fairness in multi-service scenarios.

Agricultural Land Use Responses to the Rising Labor Opportunity Cost in Sui County,China

Rising labor opportunity cost is one of the most important characteristics of farmers' economic environment in present China,and brings great agricultural land use changes correspondingly.Based on the stratified random sample of rural households in Sui County,this paper estimates the opportunity cost of farm labors,and then analyzes its effect on farmers' agricultural land use decisions.The findings show that the households with higher labor opportunity cost are more likely to reduce labor intensity and increase labor-saving input in their land use decisions.From the descriptive analysis,we also find these households always prefer grain crop planting,reduce yield-raising input or even rent out their cultivated land.As labor and yield-raising input are two essential positive factors for grain production,continuous declining of labor input and yield-raising input caused by rising labor opportunity cost may influence the grain yield per unit area in the future.

Strategies for Prioritizing Ecological Construction with Consideration of Agricultural Industry Development in Northern China’s Agro- pastoral Ecotone : A Perspective of Opportunity Cost

In northern China’s agro-pastoral ecotone,there are conflicts between agricultural industry and ecological construction resource competition,and also problems urgently to be solved for economic growth and sustainable ecological improvement.Taking the development concept of"lucid waters and lush mountains being mountains of gold and silver"as the guiding principle of prioritizing ecological and green development,this paper studied the strategies for prioritizing ecological construction with consideration of economic development of agricultural industry from the perspective of opportunity cost.Through the analysis of opportunity cost,externality,and Pareto optimal theory,and using the calculation method of the unit equivalent factor value of terrestrial ecological service function,this paper calculated the ecological service value of forest,grassland,and farmland.It found that the ecological value of forest and grassland per unit area was greater than the ecological value of agricultural industry.This indicates that the opportunity cost of farmland for ecological construction was less than that of agricultural industry.Based on the theoretical and quantitative analysis,it came up with recommendations for establishing a comprehensive system for prioritizing ecological construction with consideration of agricultural industry development and establishing and improving the incentive mechanism of ecological construction.

Economic Impact of Clinical Research to Research Centers and Opportunity Cost for the Reimbursement System in Turkey

Introduction: Clinical research is a key component of drug development with a significant economic value. It has been reported that the development of a new molecule requires 10 - 15 years and costs almost $1.3 billion. Around 75% of the cost is spent on the Phase I-IV clinical research process. This study aimed to show the economic value of clinical research in Turkey. Methods: Clinical trial budgets were estimated from the raw data of the Report of Istanbul Medical Faculty Clinical Research (ITFKAR). In the research, the estimated cost of drugs used in the clinical trials for the Turkish reimbursement agency (SGK) was calculated to show the cost of medicines acquired through clinical research. Results: The total budget for sponsored pharmaceutical research was $107 million in Turkey, and the government saved close to $311,096,130 during 2006-2010, due to not reimbursing the patients for the drugs in the clinical trials. Conclusion: Despite the limitations of the study, the findings are unique for Turkey. The results can lead to revisiting the importance and economic value of clinical trials in Turkey.

A comprehensive approach for assessing the economic contribution of forage and livestock improvement options to smallholder farming enterprises

The importance of livestock production activities to improving the livelihoods of smallholder farming households and the efficiency of their underlying farming systems is increasingly recognized.A rapid increase in livestock numbers, especially beef cattle, and special purpose forages is being promoted for smallholder farms which have traditionally undertaken subsistence cropping activities or simple livestock rearing activities using low quality feedstuffs.Because limited plantings of specialized forages combined with a poor knowledge of animal nutrition are a challenge to establishing sustainable livestock enterprises, much public policy and research is now being focused on the use of new forages and improved feeding practices.A number of economic studies have suggested that specialized forage growing and livestock feeding activities can make a positive contribution to smallholder welfare.The studies have typically compared the total level of farm or household income with and without livestock activities.Little attention is given to how much the new forage or livestock activities actually contribute to or draw resources from other farm activities to assess their real economic contribution to the enterprise, and the availability of simple tools to assist in making such assessments are limited.This paper describes a simple modelling approach that was developed for an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research（ACIAR）-supported project to explore the real as opposed to apparent economic impact of integrating improved forages and livestock within smallholder farming systems in the Red Soils region of south-central China.Application of the model is demonstrated using a simple case study of a smallholder enterprise that plans to introduce a new beef cattle rearing activity to its existing farm activity mix.The case study highlights the importance of explicitly valuing transfers of resources between different farm activities to gauge the real contribution of those activities to economic returns.

An integrated method for estimating compensations for environmental services of forests

The values of non-marketable forest products have largely been ignored, which made the conservation of the natural resources increasingly more economically difficult. Based on the previous studies, compensation subsidy for the values of non-marketable forest products was computed with a method of compensation coefficient that combines the Engel Coefficient and Logistic Curve. The method was applied in Changbai Mountain area. The total value of the compensation subsidy in 1999 was supposed to 637.93 Yuan·hm-2, of which 70% would be paid directly to the local stakeholders and is much higher than the compensation subsidy previously computed (75Yuan·hm-2·year-1). It is currently impossible for the central government to bear all the costs and investment of natural forest protection. A practical solution is that the local government should invest in forest and put the compensation subsidy into the current revenue.

Cost of postoperative complications:How to avoid calculation errors

Postoperative complications(PC)are a basic health outcome,but no surgery service in the world records and/or audits the PC associated with all the surgical procedures it performs.Most studies that have assessed the cost of PC suffer from poor quality and a lack of transparency and consistency.The payment system in place often rewards the volume of services provided rather than the quality of patients’clinical outcomes.Without a thorough registration of PC,the economic costs involved cannot be determined.An accurate,reliable appraisal would help identify areas for investment in order to reduce the incidence of PC,improve surgical results,and bring down the economic costs.This article describes how to quantify and classify PC using the Clavien-Dindo classification and the comprehensive complication index,discusses the perspectives from which economic evaluations are performed and the minimum postoperative follow-up established,and makes various recommendations.The availability of accurate and impartially audited data on PC will help reduce their incidence and bring down costs.Patients,the health authorities,and society as a whole are sure to benefit.

An Effective Approach to Determine an Initial Basic Feasible Solution: A TOCM-MEDM Approach

Transportation of products from sources to destinations with minimal total cost plays an important role in logistics and supply chain management. In this article, a new and effective algorithm is introduced for finding an initial basic feasible solution of a balanced transportation problem. Number of numerical illustration is introduced and optimality of the result is also checked. Comparison of findings obtained by the new heuristic and the existing heuristics show that the method presented herein gives a better result.

A Simplified Approach for Implementing Capital Gain Tax in Stock Marketing

The sustainability of a country inevitably depends on proper taxation system. To date, there are many taxes implemented by the ruling authorities of a country. The taxes that are sourced from stock markets or share markets are paramount to better govern a country. The capital gain tax (CGT), which is incurred in disposing the shares or stocks owned by an investor or an institution, is one of the taxes implemented in stock markets. Though in the past many attempts have been made to properly streamline the CGT, the methodologies or the approaches used in the implementation of CGT, even in the United States, are not well-grounded from a scientific point of view. Therefore, in this paper, a simplified approach based on the assumption that the CGT is implemented on a yearly basis is proposed. The CGT is calculated for each stock owned by an investor or an institution. The approach is implemented using an open access platform: AMP (Apache-MySQL-PHP). Subsequently, the proposed approach is tested using some hypothetical data. The proposed approach, which is easy-to-use, practical and un-biased, is of use to any country that is willing to progress towards the sustainability. Moreover, the proposed approach with the current technology will enhance the developing nations which have large size of informal economy, on designing and implementing effective tax policies and administrations.

Quantitative standard of eco-compensation for the water source area in the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China

The Middle Route Project(MRP)of the Southto-North Water Transfer Scheme(SNWT)in China will require a very large financial expenditure to ensure the water supply and the associated water quality to northern China.An eco-compensation mechanism between the water service source areas and its beneficiaries is essential.This paper establishes an analytic framework of ecocompensation standard for the protection of the water source area,including both the calculation of ecocompensation based on opportunity cost method(OCM)and calculation of the burden sharing of eco-compensation between the water source area and the external water reception area based on the deviation square method(DSM).Taking Shiyan City,Hubei Province in China as a case study,our results show that the eco-compensation in the first-phase of MRP for the water source area in Shiyan,Hubei Province should be 1.63×10^(10) CNY,about four times of planned eco-construction investment budget(4.33×10^(9) CNY).In addition,the burden sharing of eco-compensation varied greatly in terms of different methods.It would be better to integrate the results of different single-factor burden sharing methods by determining the corresponding weighting coefficient with DSM and form one unanimous consent result by the interested parties.

Agricultural land use intensity study in Taibus Banner, and its determinants： a case Inner Mongolia, China

Based on rural household survey data from Taibus Banner, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, this study separately categorizes agricul- tural land use intensity into labor intensity, capital intensity, the intensity of labor-saving inputs, and the intensity of yield-increasing inputs, and then analyzes their determinants at the household level. The findings reveal that within the study area： （1） labor intensity is higher and capital intensity is lower than in the major grain-producing and economically developed areas of eastern and central China; （2） the most widely planted crops are those with the lowest labor intensity （oats） and capital intensity （benne）; （3） there are marked differences in agricultural land use intensity among households; a major factor affecting land use decision-making is the reduced need for labor intensity for those households with high opportunity costs, such as those with income earned from non-farming activities which alleviates financial constraints and allows for increased capital intensity. As a result, these households invest more in labor-saving inputs; （4） households with a larger number of workers will allocate adequate time to manage their land and thus they will not necessarily invest more in labor-saving inputs. Those households with more land to manage tend to adopt an extensive cultivation strategy. Total income has a positive impact on capital intensity and a negative impact on labor intensity. House- holds that derive a higher proportion of their total income through farming are more reliant upon agriculture, which necessitates significant labor and yield-increasing inputs. Finally, the authors contend that policy makers should clearly recognize the impacts of non-farming employment on agricultural land use intensity. In order to ensure long- term food security and sustainable agricultural develop-ment in China, income streams from both farming and non- farming employment should be balanced.

Different Roles of Land in Rural-Urban Migration:Evidence from China's Household Survey

This paper explores the influence of land holding on rural-urban migration using China＇s 2008 household survey data. It shows that the contradictoryfindings of existing published literature can be explained by introducing a migration distance variable. The empirical studies show that land holding plays a different role in short-distance and long-distance migration. Land holding has a U-shaped curve association with the probability of short- distance migration and has an inverted-U-shaped association with the probability of long-distance migration. Therefore, the government needs to provide more job information and migration subsidies to farmers who have little land to overcome difficulties in the process of migration so as to reduce rural-urban inequality.

PREDICTIVE STUDY ON THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF RADIO SPECTRUM IN CHINA

Increasing popularity of spectrum-based services brings the striking contradictions between the limited spectrum resource and its increasing demands.This paper puts forward an approach to forecast the future spectrum demand and its economic value,so as to offer a scientific basis for spectrum regulators to resolve this contradiction effectively and make a long-term spectrum-use plan.Specifically,this paper analyzes the driving factors of spectrum demand firstly,based on which a forecasting model is constructed to predict the spectrum demand and its deficit/surplus in the next few years.Then,a forecasting model to measure the economic value of spectrum is proposed based on marginal opportunity cost theory,and the indifference curve is introduced to show the economic value generated by additional spectrum.Additionally,an empirical study is conducted to forecast the spectrum demand and its economic value for China in the next 10 years according to the proposed method.The results of this study show that spectrum deficit is a trend in future and releasing additional spectrum will bring China huge economic benefits.