Analyzing global competitiveness of Indonesian palm oil

Indonesia is the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world vegetable oil market. However, Indonesia export share had decreasing trend and there is an emerging competition from South America and African palm oil producer. Another issue is a non-competitive strategy from European countries for limiting palm oil import. This study aims to seek the pricing behavior of Indonesian exporter in the world palm oil market. This study shows Indonesian exporter apply Local Currency Price Stabilization Strategy to European countries but more competitive behavior to other importing countries. The LCPS strategy to European countries might be induced by more elastic palm oil demand on that region. The opposite with India and China that might have less elastic palm oil demand schedule. However, Indonesian exporter should have more awareness of future competition in the palm oil market and its pricing strategy, especially to emerging demand from India and China.

«Time preference and investment expenditure»: comment on Hülsmann

Hülsmann (2008) argues that the neglect of time preference changes on the demand side of the time market renders Rothbard’s (1993) analysis incomplete in that it unduly portrays a rise in the volume of investment as a necessary counterpart to a fall in the pure interest rate. Focusing on the determinants of the demand for present goods, this paper shows that though Hülsmann’s strictures are essentially valid, Rothbard has actually explained why the direct impact of time preference changes should display themselves mostly on the supply side. However, the implications have been neglected both by Hülsmann and Rothbard. We explore these implications, demonstrating that the present demand schedule and the volume of investment should be considered as mostly independent from present time preferences and determined instead by past production decisions. We show how this approach allows for a more «dynamic» understanding of the time market and growth processes. Key words: Time Preference, Investment Expenditure, Time Market, Structure of Production, Interest Rate, Growth Types, Austrian Macroeconomics. JEL Classification: B53, E22, E23, E43, O11, O16, O40. Resumen: Hülsmann (2008) argumenta que pasar por alto los cambios en la preferencia temporal del lado de la demanda en el mercado de tiempo hace incompleto el análisis de Rothbard (1993) al representar indebidamente un incremento en el volumen de inversión como contrapartida necesaria a una caída en la tasa de interés pura. Centrándose en los determinantes de la demanda para bienes presentes, este paper muestra que, siendo las críticas de Hülsmann esencialmente válidas, Rothbard realmente explicó por qué el impacto directo de los cambios en la preferencia temporal debería reflejarse fundamentalmente en el lado de la oferta. Sin embargo, las implicaciones derivadas de ello fueron ignoradas por Hülsmann y Rothbard. Las exploraremos, demostrando que la curva de demanda presente y el volumen de inversión deberían considerarse esencialmente independientes de las preferencias temporales presentes, estando determinadas realmente por decisiones pro-ductivas pasadas. Esta aproximación permite una comprensión más «diná-mica» del mercado de tiempo y los procesos de crecimiento. Palabras clave: Preferencia temporal, gasto de inversión, mercado del tiempo, estructura de la producción, tipo de interés, tipos de crecimiento, macroeconomía austriaca. Clasificación JEL: B53, E22, E23, E43, O11, O16, O40.

Impact of Insecticide Schedule, N and K Rates, and Transplant Container Size on Cabbage Yield

The impact of two insecticide spray application schedules (weekly or on demand), three N and K rates [1x, 1.5x, and 2x; 1x = (kg·ha-1) 130N-149K], and two transplant container cell sizes [small, 21 mm wide × 51 mm deep (7.5 cm 3), and large, 38 mm wide × 70 mm deep (33.7 cm”)] on `Market Prize' cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. Capitata group) yield was investigated in Fall and Winter 1982-83 and Spring 1983. Fenvalerate was sprayed at 0.112 kg·ha-1. For the weekly schedule, 10 sprays were applied in fall and winter and nine in spring; for the on-demand schedule, two sprays were applied in both seasons. There were more insect-damaged heads in both seasons in the plots sprayed on demand than in those sprayed weekly. In fall and winter, the combination of a weekly schedule with 1.5x and 2x N and K rates increased marketable yields over those of the on-demand schedule. Marketable yields at the 1.5x and 2x N and K rates were similar for plants in small or large transplant container cells, but the lx N and K rate applied to plants in small cells reduced yields. In spring, both application schedules produced similar yields, but yield increased with increasing N and K rates and large transplant container cells. Insecticide application schedule and cell size did not affect leaf nutrient concentration significantly, but increasing N and K rates resulted in higher N, P, and K leaf concentrations. Concentrations of N and K in the soil at 42 days after transplanting (DAT) were higher with increasing N and K rates. At harvest (86 DAT), only K concentrations had increased with N and K rates. Chemical name used: cyano (3-phenoxyphenyl) methyl 1-4 chloro-alpha-(1-methylethyl benzeneacetate) (fenvalerate).

On the Endogeneity of the Margin and Related Issues in Ricardian Economics

As Kenneth Arrow has pointed out in a recent paper, “David Ricardo was a peaceful man” (Arrow 1991, p. 70). Indeed he was—during his lifetime. I am not so sure he is resting peacefully given the further assertion that his system was “a bold attempt to determine values independent of demand considerations” (ibid., p. 75). Arrow adds, byway of qualification, that he does “not think, as some neo-Ricardians seem to, that there was in any sense an intended repudiation of the demand schedule”; rather Ricardo did not conceive of such a schedule even though “some of [his] analysis can only be made sensible on the basis of such a concept.”