INNOVATION IN AGRIBUSINESS

Economic policies in the age of Schumpeter Herbert Giersch Institute of World Economics, Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany

Schumpeter, Joseph A (1883-1950)     R. Swedberga aStockholm University, Sweden Abstract Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950) is generally considered one of the major economists of the twentieth century. His main effort was to develop a theory of economic change that could complement Walras' theory of general equilibrium. Schumpeter centered his theory of economic change around the entrepreneur, and in Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (1912, tr. 1934) he defined entrepreneurship as 'the carrying out of new combinations.' The initial innovation, according to Schumpeter, attracted other entrepreneurs and eventually set off a business cycle. Schumpeter's best known work is Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942), which is regarded as a classic not only in economics but also in political science. Several of Schumpeter's analyses in this work are still controversial in nature, such as his suggestion that monopolies can be healthy for the economy and that modern capitalism is digging its own grave and preparing the road for socialism. The most celebrated contribution of this work, however, is to be found in Schumpeter's discussion of democracy, more precisely in his critique of the traditional way of defining democracy as an attempt to realize the will of the people and in his own preference for a definition of democracy as competition among political leaders for the votes of the citizens.

Schumpeter and the theory of capitalist economic development*1 John E. Elliott** University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0035, USA Available online 1 April 2002. Abstract This paper gives a centenary appreciation of the contributions to economic thought of Joseph A. Schumpeter, with special focus on his work, The Theory of Economic Development (TED) it proceeds, first, by providing (in section 1) an overview of Schumpeter's life and works; second, by giving an interpretative exposition of the main themes of TED (in section 2) and Schumpeter's broader 'economic sociology' (in section 3) in terms of the place of these ideas in the history of economic thought; third, by examining the reception to TED and the impact of it and Schumpeter's dynamic methodology on the discipline (in section 4).

What explains the national economic success of the United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan? What can be learned from the long-term championship performances of leading business firms in each country? How important were specific innovations by individual entrepreneurs? And in the end, what is the true nature of capitalist development? The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Thomas K. McCraw and his coauthors present penetrating answers to these questions. Creating Modern Capitalism is the first book to explain for a broad audience the interconnections among technological innovation, management science, the power of entrepreneurship, and national economic growth. The authors approach each question from a comparative framework and with a unique triple focus on national economic systems, particular companies, and individual business leaders. Above all, the book focuses on how specific entrepreneurs influenced the economic success of their countries: Josiah Wedgwood and Henry Royce in Britain; August Thyssen and Georg von Siemens in Germany; Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan, and the two Thomas J. Watsons in the United States; Sakichi Toyoda, Masatoshi Ito, and Toshifumi Suzuki in Japan. The product of a three-year collaborative effort at the Harvard Business School, the book combines cutting-edge scholarship with a finely tuned sense of the art of management. It will engage general readers as well as those with a special interest in entrepreneurship and the evolution of national business systems.

Prophet of innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and creative destruction Thomas K. McCraw 15 Resenhas Harvard University Press, 2007 - 719 páginas Producer: Heron & Crane Pan Am, Gimbel's, Pullman, Douglas Aircraft, Digital Equipment Corporation, British Leyland--all once as strong as dinosaurs, all now just as extinct. Destruction of businesses, fortunes, products, and careers is the price of progress toward a better material life. No one understood this bedrock economic principle better than Joseph A. Schumpeter. "Creative destruction," he said, is the driving force of capitalism. Described by John Kenneth Galbraith as "the most sophisticated conservative" of the twentieth century, Schumpeter made his mark as the prophet of incessant change. His vision was stark: Nearly all businesses fail, victims of innovation by their competitors. Businesspeople ignore this lesson at their peril--to survive, they must be entrepreneurial and think strategically. Yet in Schumpeter's view, the general prosperity produced by the "capitalist engine" far outweighs the wreckage it leaves behind. During a tumultuous life spanning two world wars, the Great Depression, and the early Cold War, Schumpeter reinvented himself many times. From boy wonder in turn-of-the-century Vienna to captivating Harvard professor, he was stalked by tragedy and haunted by the specter of his rival, John Maynard Keynes. By 1983--the centennial of the birth of both men--Forbes christened Schumpeter, not Keynes, the best navigator through the turbulent seas of globalization. Time has proved that assessment accurate. Prophet of Innovation is also the private story of a man rescued repeatedly by women who loved him and put his well-being above their own. Without them, he would likely have perished, so fierce were the conflicts between his reason and his emotions. Drawing on all of Schumpeter's writings, including many intimate diaries and letters never before used, this biography paints the full portrait of a magn

La Via Campesina, Brazilian Peasants, and the Agribusiness Model of Agriculture: Towards an Alternative Model of Agrarian Democratic GovernanceMarie-Josée Massicotte Abstract Until recently, few people seemed aware of the importance of peasants,trade, and food politics in today's political economic system. With the foodcrisis and the related financial, ecological, and energy crises, however, thesituation changed drastically. An increasing number of people, analysts, andgovernment officials are talking seriously about the need to transform theagribusiness model of agriculture that is devastating the ecosystem and smallscalefarming. With about half of the world population living in thecountryside, agriculture and agrarian reform have resurfaced as majorcontentious sociopolitical, cultural, and economic issues.1 In response tothe profound impact trade liberalization has on rural communities aroundthe world, mobilized small-scale farmers and peasants are emerging as keyplayers within alter-globalization movements.

This detailed account of the politics of opening agricultural markets explains how the institutional context of international negotiations alters the balance of interests at the domestic level to favor trade liberalization despite opposition from powerful farm groups. Historically, agriculture stands out as a sector in which countries stubbornly defend domestic programs, and agricultural issues have been the most frequent source of trade disputes in the postwar trading system. While much protection remains, agricultural trade negotiations have resulted in substantial concessions as well as negotiation collapses.Food Fights over Free Tradeshows that the liberalization that has occurred has been due to the role of international institutions. Christina Davis examines the past thirty years of U.S. agricultural trade negotiations with Japan and Europe based on statistical analysis of an original dataset, case studies, and in-depth interviews with over one hundred negotiators and politicians. She shows how the use of issue linkage and international law in the negotiation structure transforms narrow interest group politics into a more broad-based decision process that considers the larger stakes of the negotiation. Even when U.S. threats and the spiraling budget costs of agricultural protection have failed to bring policy change, the agenda, rules, and procedures of trade negotiations have often provided the necessary leverage to open Japanese and European markets. This book represents a major contribution to understanding the negotiation process, agricultural politics, and the impact of international institutions on domestic politics. « Menos

First published in 1993, this title explores the underlying ideologies and decision-making procedures that codify the rules of the post-World War II liberal, now defunct Soviet socialist, mercantilist and South preferential trade regimes. Food Fights presents a rich case study and rigorous data analysis of organised agrictultural trade that uncovers similarities between these diverse economic systems and identifies the principle trends governing the new global economy.

Este libro surge de con la ambición de llenar un vacio en los estudios rurales recientes y relevar el panorama actual del sector agropecuario desde una perspectiva estructural, abordanto los cultivos representativos para permitir al lector una vision de los profundos cambios ocurridos ante el ascenso de la globalizacion y del modelo neoliberal. El eje fundamental del analisis lo constituye la busqueda de los agentes que comandan las transformaciones esenciales de la rama, asi como las nuevas formas de subordinación que enfrentan los productores rurales, las cuáles los han condenado a la marginidad productiva y la exclusión social. Finalmente se analizan las consecuencias sociales de la nueva fase productiva abordando el tema de la migración y la pobreza rural. El presente libro surgio con la ambición de llenar un vacío en los estudios rurales recientes y revelar un panorama actual del sector agropecuario, desde una perspectiva estructural, abordando los cultivos representativos, para permitir al lector una visión de los profundos cambios ocurridos ante el ascenso de la globalización y del Modelo Neoliberal

Ecological economics is a hot topic today as an alternative to 'neo-classical' environmental economics. It seeks to 'socially construct' a political economics that will deal with environmental problems and make the individual more visible in economic analysis. A leading authority in the field describes the principles, strategies and instruments of social change from the point of view of key players -- governmental agencies, business corporations, environmental and religious organizations and universities -- and underlines their responsibilities in the market economy. This critical text in the search for an interdisciplinary economics that facilitates social and environmental development offers a pluralistic and democratic approach to addressing environmental problems and balances the priorities of economic growth and international competitiveness with environmental sustainability. It emphasizes the need to articulate ideologies, worldviews, ethics and related scientific perspectives as part of economics. This illuminating account of the theories and means that will bring us closer to a sustainable society considers tools such as environmental impact assessment (EIA) and describes success indicators such as environmental labeling and environmental management systems (EMS). It highlights strategies and policies that facilitate social change and sets out future agendas for the individual actors in political economics.

Demand for water is one of the major challenges of the current century, but past approaches are no longer sufficient. Based on the "soft path" approach to the energy sector, a transition is now under way to a soft path for water. This approach starts by ensuring that ecosystem needs for water are satisfied and then undertakes a radical approach to reducing human uses of water by economic and social incentives, including open decision-making, water markets and equitable pricing, and the application of super-efficient technology, all applied in ways that avoid jeopardizing quality of life. This book is the first to present and apply the water soft path approach. It has three aims: to bring to a wider audience the concept and the potential of water soft paths; to demonstrate that soft path analysis is analytical and practical, and not just "eco-dreaming"; and to indicate that soft paths are not only conceptually attractive but that they can be made economically and politically feasible. These goals are reflected by the scope of the book which is organized around the three aspects of any soft path: a vision of a sustainable water future based on the soft path concept; an analytic method to define alternative routes to get to that future (most literally, the soft paths), as illustrated by case studies in Canada and elsewhere: and a tool kit for planners and other practitioners

IWMI Research Report - 135 Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Agriculture in Sri Lanka: A Review and Preliminary Vulnerability Mapping   Citation: Eriyagama, N.; Smakhtin, V.; Chandrapala, L.; Fernando, K. 2010. Impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in Sri Lanka: a review and preliminary vulnerability mapping. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. 51p. (IWMI Research Report 135). [doi:10.5337/2010.211]   (Download Low-Res PDF 1.12MB) (Download High-Res PDF 5.78MB)   There is ample evidence to suggest that Sri Lanka's climate has already changed. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka's climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared the country is to face such changes. This report reviews the status of climate change (CC) research/activities in Sri Lanka in terms of observed and projected climatic changes, their impacts on water resources and agriculture, CC mitigation and adaptation, and research needs. The study also developed a pilot level CC Vulnerability Index, which was subsequently mapped at district level. The maps indicate that typical farming districts such as Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Moneragala, Ratnapura and Anuradhapura are the most vulnerable to CC due to their heavy reliance on primary agriculture. Map Download Area for Research Report 135: Eriyagama et al. (2010) The original figures from Research Report 135 may be downloaded in JPG and EPS formats using the hyperlinks below on the condition that: The source is duly acknowledged in any such subsequent reproduction/modification of the maps. The source should be cited as: Eriyagama, N.; Smakhtin, V.; Chandrapala, L.; Fernando, K. 2010. Impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in Sri Lanka: a review and preliminary vulnerability mapping. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. 51p. (IWMI Research Report 135). doi:10.3910/2010.

A Green New Deal Joined-up policies to solve the triple crunch of the credit crisis, climate change and high oil prices The global economy is facing a 'triple crunch': a combination of a credit-fuelled financial crisis, accelerating climate change and soaring energy prices underpinned by encroaching peak oil. It is increasingly clear that these three overlapping events threaten to develop into a perfect storm, the like of which has not been seen since the Great Depression, with potentially devastating consequences. Programme Areas: Climate Change and Energy, Finance and Business Tags: peak oil, green new deal, green jobs, employment, credit crunch, climate change, banking

A Green New Deal A Green New Deal is a report released on July 21, 2008 by the Green New Deal Group and published by the New Economics Foundation, which outlines a series of policy proposals to ... Wikipediafrom 1 More Wikipedia Result Green New Deal @green_newdeal Get short, timely messages from Green New ... Results from Google The Green New Deal Act now and a positive course of action based on the framwork set out in A Green New Deal http://www.greennewdealgroup.org/ The Green New Deal | the new economics foundation The report, A Green New Deal, described the global economy facing a http://www.neweconomics.org/proje... Obama urged to create 'Green New Deal' Nov 24, 2008 ... The worldwide economic crisis is prompting a growing number of countries to back away from pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ... http://www.boston.com/news/scienc... Press Releases October 2008 - "Global Green New Deal ... Mobilizing and re-focusing the global economy towards investments in clean technologies and 'natural' infrastructure such as forests and soils is the best ... http://www.unep.org/documents.mul... How Green Technology Can Spark Economic Growth Oct 25, 2008 ... In a good year the U.S. economy adds 2 million jobs, so Obama is talking about goals so ambitious that they amount to a green New Deal http://www.newsweek.com/2008/10/2...

THE ECONOMICS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Innovation is acknowledged to be a multidimensional and complex process. Thus, traditional research and development (R&D) expenditures capture only a portion of the sources of and activities involved in innovation. Innovation investment includes: a) basic research; b) product development; c) adoption of new production techniques and technologies; d) organizational change; e) distribution and market changes; f) production organization and access to production factors; and g) training and the development of new skills. Traditional in-house R&D investment is being complemented by external sources of innovation and new knowledge. Recent contributions in the economics of knowledge and innovation highlight that innovation is a cooperative and collective process. Collaboration between firms, and between firms and universities, R&D centres and technology transfer centres is a strategy aimed at the sharing of knowledge and competencies, and obtaining the benefits of technological complementarities. Innovation is rarely the result of individual firm efforts; it generally emerges from the interactions among local firms and institutions within a network of innovators. This research is aimed at identifying, understanding and classifying the different ways firms innovate, distinguishing between internal and external sources. Special emphasis is put on understanding the multiple organizational forms involved in innovation and the problems encountered by economic agents and their organizations in acquiring and coordinating their innovative capabilities. The theoretical framework developed is tested on the automotive industry. Recent publications

THE ECONOMICS OF INNOVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY This research focuses on the development of an integrated framework for understanding the dynamics of the generation, dissemination and exploitation of technological knowledge and its effects on the growth of companies, regions and countries. It involves the use of different methodological designs, ranging from network analysis to econometrics and clinical case studies, to accommodate the variety of issues under scrutiny and to combine theoretical contributions and supporting empirical analyses. It includes several principal research lines: * Knowledge structure and productivity growth * Generation and exploitation of technological change: Market value and total factor productivity * Biased technological change and total factor productivity based on country and regional European evidence. . The topics explored within this line of research include: 1. Microeconomic analysis of the relationships between firm performance and human capital and technological knowledge. 2. Investigation of the relationships between education, scientific and technological knowledge, and regional economic growth. 3. Analysis of country and industry level productivity differentials among the industrialized countries and between industrialized and developing countries. It is hoped that this research will result in an organic heuristic structure that explains the complex and composite nature of the economic transformations in advanced countries. Recent publications Antonelli, C. and Calderini, M., 2008, 'The governance of knowledge compositeness and technological performance: The case of the automotive industry in Europe', Economics of Innovation and New Technology (17) 23-41. Antonelli, C., 2008, 'The new economics of the university: A knowledge governance approach', Journal of Technology Transfer, (33): 1-22. Antonelli, C., 2008, Localized Technological Change. Towards the Economis of Complexity, London: Routledge. Antonelli C. and T

Sustainable financing of protected areas: a global review of challenges and options Lucy Emerton, Joshua Bishop, Lee Thomas 0 Resenhas IUCN, 2006 - 9

Training Opportunities IAIA recognizes that the training of EIA professionals is a key to effective impact assessments. Through its Training and Professional Development Committee, this section of the IAIA web site will provide members and non-members with information regarding training manuals, training courses, and other aspects of EIA capacity building. IAIA has just begun developing its training network. If you know of information that would make this section more useful, please contact info@iaia.org Training Home UNEP Training Manual Use this link to buy or print a copy of the "Training Resource Manual for Environmental Impact Assessment" (2nd Edition), including Transparencies and Case Studies prepared by the United Nations Environment Program. This 600 page document is a must for any person who is engaged in EIA training. Training Network This link will help EIA professionals use the Internet to find out about training programs and EIA learning resources around the world. Training Course Database Other Manuals and Reports Strategic Environmental Assessment Manual IAIA is pleased to make available, at no cost, the course manual on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), prepared by Maria Rosário Partidário. Dr. Partidário's course on SEA has been the best-attended training session at IAIA's annual meetings for many years, and gets high ratings from attendees for its presentation of SEA current practices, future demands and capacity building needs. International Study of the Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment - Final Report IAIA is pleased to make available, at no cost, the final report on "Environmental assessment in a changing world : evaluating practice to improve performance" prepared by Barry Sadler. The two year international EA effectiveness study, commissioned by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and IAIA and taken forward by an international consortium of countries and international agencies, remains a landmark review of th

Water resource management is of paramount importance in agricultural development. Sustained socioeconomic development in countries with irrigated agriculture could be limited by water availability and deterioration in water quality. Consequently, any effort made to improve water use in irrigation practices will have a marked effect on sustainable agriculture and on conservation of soil and water resources. Problems associated with irrigated agriculture have been attributed to poor water management due to lack of knowledge of soil-plant-atmosphere relations, inadequate form of water application, hydrochemical relations triggered by irrigation, and soil's microbiological surroundings. Optimal design and selection of irrigation systems permit high efficiencies and uniform distribution of the applied water. Advanced planning and management of water is needed to ensure a sustainable agricultural process with optimal crop production, considering physical, environmental, financial, and technological restrictions. In addition, drainage techniques have also been developed, allowing removal of excess water from the soil profile. However, there is still a need to optimize water resource use and management to maintain sustainable irrigated agriculture considering water demand, water quality, economic evaluation of water, and decision support systems.

IRRIGATION | Environmental Effects