The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationships among the business philosophy, business strategy and business outcome of rice flour-related corporations in Japan. Specifically, structural equation modeling (SEM) and cognitive map analysis are introduced to the results of a questionnaire survey. The following results are obtained from the empirical analysis. First, the management philosophy (Effective Altruism, and membership in the Rice Flour Association) of rice flour-related corporations influences their business strategies (potential head market, tail market, organizational learning and proposals from stakeholders) which induce innovation and determine business performance (current performance and future prospects for shared value creation). Secondly, the business performance reflects their expectations for the rice flour market, and influences the direction of market development. Therefore, a policy innovation that strengthens effective altruism and the creation of shared value through organizational learning of stakeholders in rice flour-related businesses is called for.

The effects of organic equivalence agreements (OEA) on organic export value have been studied; however, their effect on organic production is yet to be investigated. This study examines the effect of the European Union’s (EU) OEAs on the organic land share of partner exporting countries. Employing the synthetic control method, this study provides evidence that the EU’s OEAs have positive effects on organic land shares of exporting countries. Additionally, the duration of the time lag following the intervention of OEAs varied across countries.

This study mainly examined organic agriculture farmers’ motivations for environmentally friendly practices in Turkey and Japan. The study was conducted in Manisa Province of Turkey and Niigata Japan. A total of 260 organic agriculture farmers were interviewed. The effects of various factors on farmers’ motivation are clustered according to the diversity of their motivation. In Manisa, six distinct dimensions were identified including Economic and Marketing, Community, Environmental Policy and Support, Knowledge, Awareness, and Self-responsibility. In Niigata, four dimensions emerged Environmental Policy and Support, Self-responsibility, Community, and Awareness. These results offer valuable context-specific understanding of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors ensuring the sustainability of environmentally friendly practices in the two different regions.

This study introduces the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) approach to examine the impact of food or cash transfer programs in Ethiopia. The average treatment effects from the IPWRA food demand system estimation show a significantly lower expenditure share of fruits and vegetables and a higher share of animal-based products among assistance beneficiaries than non-beneficiaries. However, the positive, insignificant treatment effect on expenditure share of food away from home is estimated. These findings propose that our concerns should be redefined to elucidate changes in beneficiaries’ menu choice and time allocation by transfers within a workfare program.

Child poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, and maternal labor force participation may mitigate children’s poverty status. This study explores the effects of maternal labor force participation on multidimensional poverty among children under five years of age in three Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste. Using Demographic and Health Survey datasets, the estimated results of coarsened exact matching revealed that maternal labor force participation significantly reduced the number of deprivation dimensions and the probability of being in severe multidimensional poverty. The impacts on multidimensional child poverty are insignificant between all years of employment and the seasonal/occasional employment status of mothers.

Climate change remains a significant threat to food security, especially in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate the impact of farmers’ joint adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies (CSAT) on sorghum farmers’ performance in Mali, where sorghum is one of the most important staple food crops. The empirical results indicate that adopting all the CSAT components as a package significantly increases sorghum yield compared to non-adopters and incomplete adopters. However, due to the higher cost associated with the package and insufficient yield enhancement by the package, incomplete adoption of CSAT components provides better income, particularly if farmers are educated.

This study investigates the impacts of government subsidized crop insurance on farmers’ rice cultivation practices using household survey data in Guangdong province, China. Although the insurance is compulsory, only some of the beneficiaries are aware of being insured by this insurance. Utilizing the diversity of insurance awareness, the effect of insurance is evaluated employing an endogenous treatment-effect model, which addresses the endogeneity of farmers’ awareness of being insured. The results show that farmers who are aware of being insured increased rice cultivation area by specializing in rice and probably adopting double cropping. As a result, total rice production increased significantly.

This research investigates the gradient of destination city popularity within Hokkaido, recognizing the significant travel expenses in the region, which demands thoughtful destination choices and underscores the vital role of effective marketing strategies. Data was collected through an online questionnaire with a sample size of 351 respondents, primarily Japanese individuals residing outside Hokkaido. The results of the AIDA and AIDCA models explain the process of attracting and converting potential visitors into tourists, highlighting the importance of “conviction” in affirming the destination’s image and anticipated experiences. In conclusion, effective marketing strategies involve establishing and sustaining clear convictions to prompt tourist visits.

The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of plot size on productivity growth. Accordingly, we measured the size of nearly 4,000 plots using satellite images and merged them with city-level agricultural statistics for southeastern China. The main findings are as follows. First, the results show that plot size is inversely correlated with land productivity growth. The results showed that a 10% decrease in plot size would accelerate the annual growth rate by 0.10 percentage points. Second, to clarify the mechanism behind the inverse relationship, the study shows that small-plot farmers are more willing to shift their crop types to high-value crops than large-plot farmers.

This study examines how decreasing wheat production and exports in 2022/23 and 2023/24, and agricultural knowledge & innovation systems and labor force in Ukraine, due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, will impact global wheat markets by considering future climate change. The simulation results show that the decrease in wheat production and exports, agricultural knowledge & innovation systems, and agricultural labor force in Ukraine will impact the global wheat market. This study concludes that the early recovery of agricultural knowledge & innovation systems, and the agricultural labor force in Ukraine will contribute to stabilizing international wheat price in the long term.

The 2023 Journal Article Prize of the Agricultural Economics Society of Japan was awarded to the following article appeared in Volume 24 of Japanese Journal of Agricultural Economics. The Editorial Board would like to share the abstract and bibliographic information in this volume.