No abstract

No abstract

This paper quantitatively examines by simulation the extent to which plot exchange can consolidate fragmented farmland. We first show that individual, decentralized, one-to-one plot exchanges, which are currently conducted by some leading farmers, cannot accomplish sufficient consolidation. This is because occurrences of "double-coincidence-of-wants" necessary for voluntary exchange are too few. We then propose a collective, centralized approach, based on the top trading cycle algorithm by Shapley et al., in which many farmers simultaneously exchange plots. This approach mitigates the restriction of "double-coincidence-ofwants" and can raise the consolidation rate to more than twice that of the individual-decentralized exchange. We also find that the consolidation rate improves dramatically as more farmers participate in the exchange. Our results suggest that it is essential to attract as many farmers as possible and to conduct collective and centralized allocation of plots in order to attain better consolidation.

The excellent flavor of Wagyu is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. However, the popularity of Wagyu has encouraged competition for authentic Japanese Wagyu, resulting in the appearance of inauthentic Wagyu beef. To ward off this export competition, Japanese Wagyu producers need to improve and differentiate their value-added beef. As hardly any past studies focus on the consumption of Japanese Wagyu in Hong Kong, this paper uses a choice experiment to examine the valuation of beef by Hong Kong consumers in terms of country of origin. Data from 250 Hong Kong consumers obtained through a web questionnaire were used to analyze the beef preferences. In addition to the beef's country of origin, its marbling level, the Japanese Wagyu label and reference point effects were considered. The results indicate that Hong Kong consumers place a significant premium on Japanese Wagyu over Australian or American Wagyu. That premium is greater among consumers who have seen the Japanese Wagyu label. Reference price effects were also statistically confirmed. To promote Japanese Wagyu beef consumption, therefore, it is important to make the consumer aware of the advantages of Japanese Wagyu.

In order to facilitate interdisciplinary design and appraisal of agricultural policies, a comprehensive database covering both geophysical and socioeconomic information related to agricultural production has been constructed for all 3,773 agricultural communities in Japan's Chiba Prefecture. The database covers four categories of information layers: (a) current and historic data on agricultural production (the "dependents"); (b) data on geophysical factors affecting agricultural production (the "unchangeables"); (c) data on man-made infrastructures affecting agricultural production (the "long-term changeables"); and (d) data on other socioeconomic factors affecting agricultural production (the "short-term changeables"). Three applications using the database are also introduced.