Loss of farmland puts China's food security at risk

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Soil Pollution ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
Double Cropping

Subject China and food security. Significance A new law to prevent soil pollution took effect last month -- the latest move in Beijing’s long-running battle to ensure China’s food security by preventing the loss of arable land. Soil pollution has taken a serious toll on a disproportionately small endowment of farmland that is shrinking due to desertification and urbanisation. Impacts The reliance of local governments on revenue from land sales will work against central government efforts to protect farmland. There is still scope to raise agricultural productivity by improving technology, access to credit, market mechanisms and land consolidation. Cereal yields are high by international standards, and scope to extend double-cropping is limited, especially in major grain regions.

scholarly journals Game Theory-Based Analysis of Local Governments’ Behavioral Dissimilation in the Third-Party Soil Pollution Control under Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Caihua Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Soil Pollution ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Third ◽  
Party Control ◽  
The Third Party

The participation of a third party of the environmental service enterprise theoretically increases the level and efficiency of soil pollution control in China. However, Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may have a negative impact on the behaviors of participants, especially the local government. First, this paper conducts a positioning analysis on participants of the third-party soil pollution control in China and discusses the behavioral dissimilation of the local government under fiscal decentralization. Second, taking the government’s third-party soil pollution control as a case, a two-party game model of the central government and the local government is established around the principal-agent relationship, and a tripartite game model of the central government, the local government, and the third-party enterprise is designed around the collusion between the local government and the third-party enterprise. The results show that Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may lead to the behavioral dissimilation of local governments, that is, they may choose not to implement or passively implement the third-party control, and choose to conspire with third-party enterprises. Improving the benefits from implementing the third-party control of local governments and third-party enterprises, enhancing the central government’s supervision probability and capacity, and strengthening the central government’s punishment for behavioral dissimilation are conducive to the implementation of the third-party soil pollution control. Finally, this study puts forward policy suggestions on dividing the administrative powers between the central and local government in third-party control, building appraisal systems for the local government’s environmental protection performance, constructing environmental regulation mechanisms involving the government, market and society, and formulating the incentive and restraint policies for the participants in the third-party soil pollution control.

China will push for greater self-reliance in food

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Self Reliance

Significance President Xi Jinping last year called for "a sense of crisis about food security”. Behind such statements lies an awareness of environmental threats and natural disasters, a shrinking and ageing farm labour force, shortages of water and arable land, and food waste on an enormous scale. Impacts China cannot avoid dependence on imports of animal feed as its population's demand for meat rises further. Beijing will make greater efforts to diversify foreign sources of feed imports. China is immutably locked into overseas dependence for soybeans, and potentially maize and barley, too.

Fiscal decentralization, preference for government innovation and city innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siying Yang ◽  
Zheng Li ◽  
Jian Li
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Effect Model ◽  
Fiscal Expenditure ◽  
Government Innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether fiscal decentralization has impacts on city innovation level and to examine the moderating effects of the preference for government innovation in China. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel data of China’s 278 cities from 2003 to 2016, the authors first use fixed-effect model and quantile regression to analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on city innovation level and the variations of impacts conditional on different innovation levels, followed by a mediating effect model to test the moderating effects of the preference for government innovation and its temporal and spatial heterogeneity. Findings The paper finds that fiscal decentralization significantly inhibited city innovation, and with the improvement of city innovation level, the inhibition demonstrated characteristics of “V” type variation. When the degree of fiscal decentralization is between 0.377 and 0.600, the inhibition of fiscal decentralization on city innovation level is the weakest. We further show that fiscal decentralization also inhibits the government's preference for innovation, reduces the proportion of fiscal expenditure on innovation and has a negative impact on city innovation. In addition, the influence of fiscal decentralization on city innovation present clear heterogeneity in space and in time. On one hand, the inhibition of fiscal decentralization on city innovation level in eastern China is significantly weaker than that in central and Western China; on the other hand, after the implementation of China’s innovation-driven development strategy in 2013, the negative impact of fiscal decentralization on city innovation disappeared. Research limitations/implications The research findings have certain policy implications. That is, in the process of decentralization reform, on the one hand, the central government should strengthen the supervision over the fiscal expenditure of local governments and ensure that the central government can play a leading role in the local development strategy, on the other hand, the central government should guard against the distortion of fiscal decentralization on local governments' fiscal expenditure behavior. In addition, the central government should also focus on the heterogeneity of the impacts of fiscal decentralization on cities under different strategic backgrounds and different levels of innovation. Originality/value This paper extends prior research by bringing the decentralization system reform into the study of city innovation system and analyzing its mechanism and its temporal and spatial heterogeneity.

Understanding the forces and critical features of a new reporting and budgeting system adoption by Indonesian local government

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-167
Author(s):  
Harun Harun ◽  
David Carter ◽  
Abu Taher Mollik ◽  
Yi An
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
New Technology ◽  
National Level ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policymaking And Implementation

Purpose This paper aims to critically explore the forces and critical features relating to the adoption of a new reporting and budgeting system (RBS) in Indonesian local governments. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on an intensive analysis of document sources and interview scripts around the institutionalization of RBS by the Indonesian government and uses the adaption of Dillard et al. (2004) institutional model in informing its findings. Findings The authors find that at the national level, the key drivers in RBS adoption were a combination of exogenous economic and coercive pressures and the wish to mimic accounting reforms in developed nations. At the local government level, the internalization of RBS is a response to a legal obligation imposed by the central government. Despite the RBS adoption has strengthened the transparency of local authorities reports – it limits the roles of other members of citizens in determining how local government budgets are allocated. Research limitations/implications The results of the study should be understood in the historical and institutional contexts of organizations observed. Practical implications The authors reinforce the notion that accounting as a business language dominates narratives and conversations surrounding the nature of government reporting and budgeting systems and how resource allocation is formulated and practiced. This should remind policymakers in other developing nations that any implementation of a new accounting technology should consider institutional capacities of public sector organizations and how the new technology benefits the public. Social implications The authors argue that the dominant role of international financial authorities in the policymaking and implementation of RBS challenges the aim of autonomy policies, which grant greater roles for local authorities and citizens in determining the nature of the budgets and operation of local authorities. Originality/value This study extends institutional theory by adapting the Dillard et al. (2004) model in explaining the forces, actors and critical features of a new accounting system adoption by local governments.

Colombia vote raises concerns for mining firms

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Mining Activity ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
Legal Costs ◽  
Mining Projects

Subject Local vetoes on mining activities. Significance Local governments opposed to mining projects planned in their districts have been awarded new powers to derail developments through a series of decisions from the Constitutional Court. On July 29, authorities in Tolima became the first to leverage one such decision in order to approve plans for a referendum over a proposed local ban on mining activity. Impacts Even firms with strong central government support will have scant protection from regulatory risk. Mining companies may see legal costs mount as they prepare appeals against court rulings that could undermine the viability of projects. Delays will further undermine government efforts to bolster Colombia's economy via the expansion of this strategic industry.

Fiscal decentralization in Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Im Gon Cho
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
National Government ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Local Taxes ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
High Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to make policy recommendations for the current fiscal decentralization discussion by examining the operating mechanisms of local taxes, unconditional grants, and conditional grants within the fiscal relationships between the national government and local governments in Korea. Design/methodology/approach After examining the current fiscal relationships between the national government and the local governments, this paper analyzes trends of local taxes, unconditional grants from both national and high-level local governments, and conditional grants from both national and high-level (or provincial level) local governments between 2002 and 2015. Local governments are classified into high-level local governments, and three types of low-level local governments are: si, kun, and ku. Findings Since the structure of local government finances in Korea is very complicatedly intertwined, the present decentralization discussion regarding increasing the share of local tax revenues may not achieve its purpose of fiscal decentralization. The authorities in charge of revenue allocation should be first decentralized at high-level local governments; high-level local governments should then arrange unconditional and conditional grants from high-level local governments to low-level local governments while taking into consideration unconditional and conditional grants from the national government to low-level governments. Originality/value The dichotomy between the central government and local municipalities has been utilized in the existing discussion regarding fiscal decentralization in Korea, but this study highlights the important resource allocation roles of high-level local governments.

Cross-sectoral comparison of concessions in transport

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Vanelslander ◽  
Gilles Chomat ◽  
Athena Roumboutsos ◽  
Géraldine Bonnet
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Road Development ◽  
Fuzzy Logic Approach ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Logic Approach ◽  
Mode Of Transport ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology of comparing concession projects developed in different transport sub-sectors. The methodology is tested in the comparison of three different cases, each of which represent a particular mode of transport: a road development project, a city tramway project and a port lock construction initiative. Design/methodology/approach – A fuzzy logic approach methodology is applied in carrying out the comparison between cases. Granulation is achieved by employing a Contextual (Ws) Risk Analysis Framework, as risks constitute the basis to public private partnership (PPP) structure. Linguistic variables are then used to describe the comparative findings. Findings – The methodology presented allows for the comparison of three cases from different transport sub-sectors. Identification of similarities provides the potential to transfer experience from one sector to the other. With respect to the three cases studied, it was identified that traffic risk seems to be passed on to the private operators in relation to the level of exclusivity. Finally, PPP projects initiated by central government (as opposed to those initiated by local governments) seem to be more finance-driven than service-driven. Research limitations/implications – As the number of cases to be compared increases, quantitative comparative analysis fuzzy set values can be included in order to carry out a full analysis. The present approach should be considered introductory, as fuzzy sets are not generated due to the limited number of surveys (cases) compared (hence the term “pre-fuzzy”). Practical implications – The methodology presented and the cases tested indicate the possibility for knowledge/experience transfer and the transferability of best practices. Originality/value – Cross-sub-sectoral comparisons for transport PPP projects have not been identified in literature.

China local government debt risk survives reforms

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Government Debt ◽  
Bond Market ◽  
Municipal Bonds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Land Prices ◽  
Near Future

Subject Local government debt in China. Significance China in 2015 introduced municipal bonds and launched a debt-swap programme to address the risks that opaque and fast-growing local government debt posed to financial stability. Three years on, the new policy shows signs of old problems. Impacts The authorities will intervene in potential local bond defaults to prevent panic; concerns of moral hazard are secondary for now. The supply of arable land will gradually erode, endangering food security. The central government will retain issuance quotas that prevent the local bond market becoming fully autonomous in the near future. The authorities in cities with high land prices (mostly in China's east) will be at an advantage.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on food prices in China: evidence of four major food products from Beijing, Shandong and Hubei Provinces

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohua Yu ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
Hanjie Wang ◽  
Jan-Henning Feil
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Wheat Flour ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Major Food ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically study the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on food prices in China and provides policy implications for crisis management for other countries who are still under the crisis of COVID-19 and for the future in China and beyond as well.Design/methodology/approachThis paper first designed a theoretical model of market equilibrium, which shows that the impact of COVID-19 on food prices is linked to the impact difference on demand and supply in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Then we collected the representative prices data for four major food products (rice, wheat flour, pork and Chinese cabbages) from three provinces (Shandong as a producing base, Beijing as a consumption base and Hubei as the epicenter), and set up an iGARCH model.Findings(1) No significant impact on rice and wheat flour prices, (2) significantly positive impact on cabbages prices and (3) various impact on pork prices. Note that the outbreak and the severity of COVID-19 have different impacts. The outbreak itself may have a relatively large impact on pork and cabbage prices, which may result from social panic, while the magnitude of the impact of severity is relatively small, and some are negative, perhaps due to more reduced demand during the quarantine.Practical implicationsChina always puts food security in its prior position of policy agenda and has been preparing for the worst scenario of the food security crisis. In the anti-COVID-19 campaign, China's local governments developed many measures to ensure food provision for each consumer. Hence, the impact of COVID-19 on food prices is minor. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 crisis could cause social panic in some scenarios where consumers may hoard food. Eventually, it may form a vicious cycle to push up food prices. This will be a challenging policy issue in crisis management for almost all governments.Originality/valueThis paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on food prices in China. China has basically contained the COVID-19 in the whole country, and no major food crisis occurred during this process. The results will provide information on crisis management for other countries that are still under the COVID-19 crisis, and for future China and beyond.

Determinants of post COVID-19 food security policy success

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadillah Amin ◽  
Wibisono Poespito Hadi ◽  
Soesilo Zauhar ◽  
Bambang Santoso Haryono
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Food Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze and examine the influence of the role of the central government, the role of local government, community participation, governance on the success of post-COVID-19 food security policies. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted a quantification study related to phenomena related to the success of post-COVID-19 food security policies. The data used are primary data with a research instrument in the form of a questionnaire. Data analysis using the measurement model Structural Equation Model (SEM). The population in this study was all people in the city of Bandung, Indonesia. Findings The role of the Central Government (X1), the role of the Local Government (X2) and Public Participation (X3) is very important for improving Governance (Y1) and Food Defense Policy (Y2). Thus, the conditions of the role of the Central Government (X1), the role of the Local Government (X2) and Public Participation (X3) must always be maintained. Efforts to maintain the role of the Central Government (X1) and the role of the Local Government (X2) can be done by paying attention to the organizing aspect. This indicator is known to have a very important influence in reflecting the role of the Central Government (X1) and the role of the Local Government (X2). On the other hand, efforts to increase Public Participation (X3) can be done by paying attention to the Psychological indicators (X31). Originality/value The government must take steps to prevent a food crisis. Apart from that, the government is also deemed necessary to map existing agricultural potentials, stabilize food prices, carry out consolidation related to agricultural land and also make regulations related to existing food problems. Apart from the role of the government, the public can also take part in maintaining food security to avoid a food crisis. Communities have the opportunity to build food sovereignty and self-sufficiency. During a pandemic like this, people tend to be more creative and can be creative to outsmart existing situations. This includes maintaining access to food. The community is expected to have the awareness to undertake at least independent planting to meet their own food needs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document