This study analyzes influence factors on the geographical sales range and the sales amount of agriculture-related firms in Myanmar, comparing them with manufacturing firms, utilizing firm-level data in Myanmar collected by UN-ESCAP and other institutes. Recognizing the importance of human capital in the management of transporting and shipping time and handling with demand fluctuation in dealing with easily decayed agricultural fresh products, this study focuses on the influence of human resources with expertise as well as the productivity, size and diversity of resources of finance. As a result, this study finds that the ratio of university-graduated-level employees in agriculture-related private firms, as human resources with expertise, affects geographical sales range and sales amount of those entities, comparing with those of manufacturing firms.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the recent developments and the outlook for trade negotiations, taking into account the background of the Doha-Round negotiations and the current negotiation position of WTO members. The results are as follows. The Doha-Round negotiations were carried out under the Doha mandate, which was recognized as giving special and different treatment to developing countries. However, there was an assertion of the need for a new approach at the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi 2015. In other words, the pros and cons of the continuity of the Doha-Round negotiations were stipulated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration. There were fierce arguments between developed countries and developing countries as to whether emerging economies such as China that have undergone economic development should be treated as developing countries. In addition to this problem, there are a lot of serious issues surrounding the WTO such as the progress of the EPA/FTA, the U.S. trade policy under the Trump administration, the issue of the members of the Appellate Body in the WTO, the interpretation of national security concerning the Article 21 of the GATT and the issue of handling public stockholdings for food security purposes. Despite these circumstances, the existence of the WTO is extremely important for its function in promoting free trade. In particular, it can be said that the WTO is significant in terms of being able to unify many trade rules by authorizing release from the complexity of rules created by the EPA/FTA. As Japan depends heavily on trade and has achieved economic development by trade, Japan needs to positively engage in promoting the WTO, not only at the administrative level but also through various international meetings such as the top level and the ministerial level.

The negotiation on agriculture in the Uruguay Round of the GATT (UR) created commitments on reduction of trade distorting payments in three dimensions : domestic support, market access and export competition. The outcome of the UR was synthesized into the WTO agreements, and all of the member countries were required to accept the agreements as a whole without any exceptions. On the other hand, they also contained special and differential treatment (S&D) of developing countries. The levels of tariff reductions after tariffication, aggregate measurement of support (AMS) and values of export subsidies and amounts of their targets were kept at two-thirds of the regular requirements. Trends in world agricultural trade from 1995 to 2000 showed an increase in export amount, especially the amount of soybeans and primary commodities such as coffee, cocoa beans and palm oil. However, export values of almost all major products decreased except for soybeans and poultry. These changes caused mainly by decreases in price seem to express the trade expansion effects of market liberalization by the WTO agreements without remarkable gain of developing countries exporting agricultural commodities. Therefore, discontent of these countries surged, and they strongly requested to set the new negotiations as a “development agenda”. World agricultural exports have expanded in both value and amount in the 2000s, and prices of major produce skyrocketed in 2007 and 2008. Then the prices plunged into a dive in 2009 but quickly recovered in 2010. The exports of cereals and soybeans have remained at high levels, meat exports have increased steadily, and primary commodity prices have fluctuated sharply. The exporters of cereals, soybeans and meat have benefited little from the more liberalized market. On the other hand, the exporters of primary commodities and the net food importers still face fragile situations. The negotiation on agriculture in the Doha Development Agenda should pay more attention to the interests of these fragile countries in order to be more effective as a “development agenda”.

Developing countries have enjoyed the benefits of a free trade regime under the WTO in the 21st century. President Trump, who pledged to enact an “America First” policy, has made policies which regress such a liberalization of trade and investment. In this paper, we try to predict the future course of trade and investment liberalization under the “America First” policy. For that purpose, first, we examine the reasons that WTO negotiations for trade liberalization have been floundering. Then, we investigate the future course of FTA/EPAs, especially, the TPP and RCEP, which are considered to influence the success of multilateral trade negotiation. For the TPP, we discuss whether the number of countries which participate in the TPP will increase, without the USA, and whether the USA will participate in the TPP again. For the RCEP, under which 16 countries have held meetings for promoting negotiations, we compare the existing bilateral EPAs between two among the 16 countries to reveal the factors which prevent obtaining a consensus of negotiation. Further, we also examine whether the plans for WTO reform proposed by the EU and Japan can induce the USA and China, who are the most influential countries, to comply with WTO regulations. Finally, we make a prediction about the future course of trade agreement, standing in the position of developing countries.

Agriculture and food in Japan have characteristics of a newly developed country. In addition, its trade in agricultural products differs from that of developed countries on new continents and the EU, depending largely on the food and feed imported from abroad. Long-term analysis of these characteristics will be especially useful for further development of Monsoon Asian countries. Japan's agricultural trade policy reflects two viewpoints which differ from the classical theory of free trade. One is concern about food security and the other is respect for multi-functional roles of agriculture. Regarding food security, we should be careful about the difference between the concept in developed countries and developing countries. Multi-functionality can commonly be respected among EU and Asian countries ; both have a long history of rural areas. Taking into consideration international income disparity, there is some concern about the FTA and EPA system.

The objective of this study is analyze on economic types of business organization of agricultural organized management entities (AOMEs) according to labor indicator by using microdata from 2015 Census of Agriculture and Forestry. The main outcomes are as follows. First, 7 types of business organization of AOMEs are defined. The types are one-man management organization, micro management organization and collective management organization without employees, and micro company, small company, medium company and collective company with employees. Second, there are many collective management organizations in rice AOMEs, followed by micro management organization and micro company, but there are few collective companies, or small and medium companies. Third, there are many micro companies in horticulture and livestock AOMEs, followed by micro management organizations, collective companies, and small and medium companies.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the actual conditions and problems while paying attention to efforts to secure temporary agricultural labor in Nishiuwa. The main outcomes are as follows. In 1993, when the temporary workforce from neighboring municipalities began to run short, JA Nishiuwa started a project to collect temporary agricultural labor from the nationwide and urban labor market. The amount of temporary agricultural labor is increasing year by year, but on the other hand, it has become difficult for JA to gather a labor force in recent years. From surveys of temporary agricultural labor, the workers could be categorized into agriculture specialized labor and others.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic impact on rice production cost by using large size paddy field plots and land accumulation in Hokkaido. The main outcomes are as follows : First, using large size paddy field plots and land accumulation shortens working hours for rice production. Secondly, they lower rice production cost. In conclusion, under the current policy, using large size paddy field plots and land accumulation is economically effective through expansion of paddy fields.

Since the 1990s, many problems concerning food safety have arisen. More people are interested in locally produced foodstuffs. In this research, we surveyed and analyzed the case of the school lunches in S City of Hyogo Prefecture. It is the outline of the result the questionnaire to the cooking staff in three scales of school lunch kitchens in S City. The cooking staff in the smallest school lunch kitchen accept locally produced agricultural products. But the cooking staff in the largest school lunch kitchen do not have enough time. So they do not want to cook the irregular locally produced agricultural products more than at present.

This paper explores recent corporate behavior in large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food manufacturing industry. In large corporations, shareholdings by foreign corporations and dividend payments are increasing, while the labor share is decreasing. On the liability side of the balance sheet, retained earnings have increased. On the asset side, long-term stockholdings, especially overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&As), are increasing, whereas tangible fixed assets have not increased. Although SMEs in the industry are not changing like large corporations, they own substantial intangible fixed assets, in the form of trademarks, compared to other industries.

The Japanese government introduced the Direct Payment Scheme for Hilly and Mountainous Areas (DPS) in 2000, with the aim of preventing further abandonment of farmland by helping farmers in such areas to continue farming, and thereby revitalize rural areas. Using an econometric technique, this paper measures the effectiveness of the DPS. The estimation results show that while the DPS has no causal effect on farmland conservation, it helps to promote collective action for common property resources (CPRs) management. Furthermore, this study elucidates that collective stewardship of CPRs and regional development are better facilitated in the rural areas where the DPS subsidies are allocated more to communities than to individual farms.

The objective of this study is to figure out the situation of farmers' commitment related to environment-friendly agriculture in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The prefectural government implemented the "Kumamoto Green Agriculture" policy to promote general farmers engaging in environment-friendly agriculture. The main outcomes are as follows. First, the policy played an important role in promoting farmers' entry into environment-friendly agriculture. Second, the results implied that it was difficult to involve general farmers in areas of intensive vegetable productions, and livestock farmers.

Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures turned into one of the most important elements affecting the fruit export of China. Meanwhile, according to the New New Trade Theory, the export volume could be influenced by both the trade volume of exporting goods (intensive margin, IM) and the varieties of exporting goods (extensive margin, EM). The main result shows that the number of the SPS has a positive influence in China's fruit trade. And the effect of SPS toward IM is bigger than the EM.

A fit between farm strategy and internal farm environment is required for sustainable farm performance. In the case of diversification strategy, the effect of agricultural diversification on management efficiency can be moderated by managerial capabilities and structural diversification. This paper aims to clarify those moderation effects by using data from a questionnaire survey of 159 farms located in close-to-urban areas in the UK. We use data envelop analysis to calculate a farm's efficiency and use a tobit regression model. As a result, the degree of the structural diversification and the set of marketing and labour-management capabilities positively moderate the effect of agricultural diversification on efficiency.

By contingent valuation survey, we evaluate the feasibility of collecting funds to conserve environmental assets or rural landscape via electricity rate plan. The estimation by a grouped data model with sample selection shows that the factors related to the consumers' decisions about participation and amount are different. In particular, in order to promote participation in donation via an electricity rate plan, we should consider not only consumers' pro-social motive but also the opportunity cost of donation and the characteristics of the payment vehicles themselves.

Demand analysis studies on staple foods in Japan tend to focus on rice. However, the demand for bread has recently been increasing relatively due to the reduction of rice consumption. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the demand trend for bread in Japan. The study categorizes the consumption of bread in Japan as follows : "White bread" for homemade meals, "other bread" and "cooked bread" for convenience foods, and "hamburger bun" for eating-out. We analyze time-trend, the relation of each bread and the effect of demographic factors and regions on the demand for each bread variety. The result implies that there are externalization and diversification of bread consumption.

This study examines how the U. S. and bioethanol production from EU28, China, Canada, Argentina and Brazil, and Japanese bioethanol import from the U. S. will impact the international corn price by utilizing a dynamic partial equilibrium model. The result of this study indicates that Japanese bioethanol import impact is small, but the U. S. and other countries' and regions' bioethanol productions will impact international prices by 29.4% and by 3.6% from 2017 to 2027. This means that global and U. S. bioethanol production plays a crucial role in setting the floor price effect for international corn price.

Based on the technology development policy on aquaculture, this study examines determinants of aquaculture production in China in general and amongst regions in particular. The result shows that the expenditure on technology development policy accounts for the largest share of aquaculture growth in China. This result implies that investments in technology development are effective ways to enhance aquaculture in China. We also empirically proved that the aquaculture area has a substantial contribution to aquaculture production. Furthermore, the contribution rate of the capital was found to be higher in the central and western areas because of western development.

The objective of this study is to examine how "supply and demand" and monetary economy affect international prices of grains and soybeans. The study uses ordinary least-squares. The study theoretically demonstrates that the stock-to-use ratio of grains, the price of crude oil, the number of index traders and the U.S.dollar real effective exchange rate have effects on prices of grains and soybeans. Second, we find that, with each item, their prices are quantitatively connected with other items. Third, the effect of fundamentals on the soybean price is stronger than that of technology. However, border measures and domestic protection around the world affect international prices, too.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of price fluctuation and facility investment on income for dairy farms in the northern region of Hokkaido, by means of a case analysis (2001-2016). First, in the dairy farms that have invested in facilities, the income tends to decrease due to deterioration of price conditions. Second, the dairy farms that restrained facility investment tended to obtain stable disposable income.