Publications > Cahiers (English)> N° 52, 3rd term 1999

• Households' response to groundwater quality degradation. Results from a household survey in Quebec, N. TRAORÉ, N. AMARA, R. LANDRY texte au format PDF
• Typologie, déterminants et spécificités des alliances dans l'industrie agro-alimentaire française, R. GUILLOUZO, P. PERROT, Ph. RUFFIO
  [Typology, dertermining factors ans specificites of alliances in the Franch food processing industry]
  

MÉTHODES

• La programmation mathématique positive dans les modèles d'exploitation agricole. Principes et importance du calibrage, A. GOHIN, F. CHANTREUIL
  [Positive mathematical programming in agricultural economics. Principles and importance of calibrating]

Households' Response to Groundwater Quality Degradation. Results from a Household Survey in Quebec

Namatié TRAORÉ*, Nabil AMARA**, Peter MIDMORE**, Réjean LANDRY** (* NetBridge 3000, 1440 Ste.Catherine O., Suite 725, Montreal, Canada H3G IR8. e-mail :Traore@sprint.ca
** Research Group on Public Policy , Laval University, Sainte-Foy, Canada, G1K 7P4. e-mail : Nabil.Amara@grig.ulaval.ca ; Rejean.Landry@pol.ulaval.ca )

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 52, 1999, pp 5-22

Summary – The research reported in this paper looks into Quebec households' response to groundwater quality degradation in terms of both the averting activities they undertake and the intensity of the costs they incur as a result. Of all the households suffering from water quality degradation problems, those facing water-related nuisances (odor, staining problems, and bad taste) are less inclined to take averting actions, and on average, they spend less to solve these problems than those suffering from water pollution by bacteria and minerals. Those on municipal water supply systems also tend to spend less on avoidance actions. Factors that determine households' averting behavior are their geographic location, their closeness to farming activities, the environmental orientation of the head of the household and the presence of children under 18 years of age. The intensity of averting costs is influenced by the geographic location, the source of drinking water, the income, the educational attainment and the age of the head of the household as well as the number of children under 18 years of age.

Key-words : groundwater, averting actions, averting costs, contamination, nuisances.

Typologie, déterminants et spécificités des alliances dans l'industrie agro-alimentaire française
[Typology, determining factors and specificities of alliances in the French food processing industry]

Raymond GUILLOUZO*, Pascal PERROT*, Philippe RUFFIO**  (* Université de Rennes 2, UFR de Sciences sociales, Laboratoire LESSOR, 6, av. Gaston Berger, 35043 Rennes cedex. e-mail : raymond.guillouzo@uhb.fr ; pascal.perrot@uhb.fr ** ENSAR, département Economie rurale et Gestion, 65, rue de Saint Brieuc, 35042 Rennes cedex. e-mail : ruffio@agrorennes.educagri.fr )

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 52, 1999, pp 23-57

Summary — The evolution of co-operative inter-firm relations over the last two decades has given rise to an abundant literature, in the form of theoretical analyses or empirical studie as well. Nevertheless, the food processing industry has never been included in any specific work on strategic alliances. As part of an empirical approach using a database of 259 agreements reached between 1988 and 1997, this paper confirms that alliances are a significant feature of this industry and that they follow two main logics, i.e., a vertical logic of value chain and a horizontal one taking into account the market dimension. This analysis offers a classification of alliances and permits the comparison of these strategies with those observed within other industries. In particular, it highlights the need to take the specifie characteristics of food processing activities into consideration, as well as the existence of particular technological constraints and innovation practices.

Key-words : alliances, joint ventures, strategies, food processing industry, typology.

MÉTHODES

La programmation mathématique positive dans les modèles d'exploitation agricole. Principes et importance du calibrage
[Positive mathematical programming in agricultural economics. Principles and importance of calibrating]

Alexandre GOHIN*, Frédéric CHANTREUIL* (* INRA, Unité d'économie et sociologie rurales, rue Adolphe Bobierre, CS 61103, 35011 Rennes cedex. e-mail : gohin@roazhon.inra.fr ; chantreuil@roazhon.inra.fr )

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 52, 1999, pp 59-77

Summary – The modelling of agricultural producer behaviour using mathematical programming has a long tradition in agricultural economics. The linear mathematical programming approach has been prevalent in this field for a long time. But linear programming models, that are tightly constrained to reproduce agricultural producers' choices observed at the base period, are often unacceptable and also inappropriate under policy changes. Several researchers have alluded to this problem in the past and came up with several solutions such as incorporating risk or considering "flexibility" constraints. Furthermore, to solve this problem, new methodological developments also occurred, including Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP). PMP emerged more than ten years ago but its formal presentation is relatively recent. In this article, we first present the principles of PMP, using a simple example of an arable crop producer. It appears that the two main advantages of PMP are its perfect calibration to base period levels of endogenous variables and its derivation of smooth simulation results, both resulting from the incorporation of non linear terms in the objective function. Empirical implications of the standard PMP's parameter calibration process are then discussed.

Key-words : positive mathematical programming, agricultural production, land allocation, calibration procedure.