1、中文 2978 字 本科毕业论文外文翻译 外文题目 ： A Comparative Advantage Analysis of Kosovan Agriculture 出 处： Post-Communist Economies, Vol. 15, No. 3, September, 2003 作 者： John Lingard 原 文： A Comparative Advantage Analysis of Kosovan Agriculture Abstract Following the 1999 ethnic conflict in Kosova between Serbs and Ko
2、sovar Albanians,the UN has been promoting agricultural and rural recovery in a war-torn, divided and vandalised country. A pillar of this effort is to provide loans to farmers and agri-businesses to re-establish agricultural production so as to encourage moves towards reconciliation and a peaceful f
3、uture. Early loans were advanced to uncompetitive sectors like wine which had no realistic chance of making any repayments. A study was carried out in 2002 to assess the competitiveness of the various agricultural sectors to rapidly inform future lending programmes. This article reports this study a
4、nd its findings. Credit should only be advanced to sectors in which Kosova has potential competitiveness in terms of its trade parity prices. It is shown that, contrary to common belief, domestic wheat production is competitive (Table 3) and other sectors with potential to substitute for imports inc
5、lude the milk industry and potato production, but Kosova has few real opportunities to export to competitive, international markets. There is a shortage of information on agricultural production, costs and prices, food consumption patterns and international trade in agricultural and food products in
6、 Kosova. A statistical information system is being set up to improve availability, reliability and timeliness of agricultural statistics but up-to-date information to assess comparative advantages and international trade competitiveness is in short supply. Historically Kosova was the poorest provinc
7、e of Yugoslavia. In 1995 its GDP was less than $400 per capita, at which time the value of primary agricultural production was $213 million, 35% of GDP when food processing and forestry are included. Kosova has 400,000 ha of agricultural land, 85% in the private sector, 10% in agricultural kombinats
8、 and a small amount in agricultural co-operatives. Some 60% of the population live in rural areas although only 15% are solely dependent on farming for their livelihoods. Remittances from relatives and friends living abroad make an important contribution to supporting household incomes. These are es
9、timated at $150 million per month. Competitiveness There are many definitions and measures of competitiveness, and no single measure has gained universal acceptance. Some commonly used measures are balance of payments effects, market shares, costs of production and employment creation. The EU adopte
10、d a definition of competitiveness as the ability of a country to increase its share of domestic and export markets where a country has a comparative advantage in a product which it can produce at a lower opportunity cost than other countries (European Commission, 1993). We define competitiveness as
11、the ability of a Kosovar farmer/producer or a sector of Kosovar agriculture, say milk or wine, to survive and maintain market share at prices determined by international trade. To maximise economic welfare for Kosovar society, prices should be based on those available at its international borders, t
12、hat is, the trade parity pricesimport parity prices in the case of sectors for which Kosova imports (world prices plus transport charges) and export parity prices in the case of export sectors (world prices minus transport charges). These prices represent the economic value or opportunity cost of do
13、mestically produced goods within Kosova. Competitiveness is determined by a range of factors but a countrys natural resources endowment, resources mix and technology are underlying determinants. International trade theory and the theory of comparative advantage are based on the concept that countrie
14、s have different natural resource endowments. It implies that countries should specialise in (and trade in/export) those goods whose production uses the countrys most abundant resources； import those goods whose production involves its relatively more scarce resources. Kosova is a small, land-locked
15、 country with a limited domestic market within which it will be difficult to realise economies of scale. It has difficult, expensive internal and international transport routes which are a serious impediment to exports but offer protection to the domestic market. Agricultural Resources Labour The ag
16、ricultural population is 1 million people or 100,000150,000 farm households out of a total population of 2 million. In 1997 the active population engaged in agriculture accounted for 50% of the total active population and 70% of the total labour force if upstream and downstream linkages are included
17、. There is a considerable number of part-time, subsistence farmers loosely engaged in markets for inputs and farm output. Household food security is their priority, selling and marketing surplus production a secondary consideration. As elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, there has been a sharp
18、increase in the proportion of the population engaged in agriculture during transition and following the conflict, as employees in state industries and socially-owned enterprises lost their jobs and turned to part-time, subsistence farming to meet their household food security needs (Kostov & Lingard
19、, 2002). It is difficult to connect with the subsistence sector using market-based, agricultural policy instruments and other rural strategies are required. Land Kosova has an area of 1.1 million hectares, of which 430,000 ha are forested (39%) and 577,000 ha are classified as agricultural land (52%
20、). Of the latter, 180,000 ha (31%) are pastures and 400,000 ha (69%) are cultivable. Historically the main crops grown were wheat, maize, fodder crops, vegetables and barley along with small orchards and vineyards. Some 85% of the agricultural land is privately owned, including 96% of cultivable land, 30% of pastures and 38% of forested land. Agricultural co-operatives (145) and socially-owned agrokombinats (18) control the remaining agricultural land (Kodderitzch & Veillerette, 1999).
