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Environment

FSI scholars approach their research on the environment from regulatory, economic and societal angles. The Center on Food Security and the Environment weighs the connection between climate change and agriculture; the impact of biofuel expansion on land and food supply; how to increase crop yields without expanding agricultural lands; and the trends in aquaculture. FSE’s research spans the globe – from the potential of smallholder irrigation to reduce hunger and improve development in sub-Saharan Africa to the devastation of drought on Iowa farms. David Lobell, a senior fellow at FSI and a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, has looked at the impacts of increasing wheat and corn crops in Africa, South Asia, Mexico and the United States; and has studied the effects of extreme heat on the world’s staple crops.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in China

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The purpose of this paper is to present estimations of indicators of direct and indirect interventions of China's government in agriculture. In order to put these indicators in context, the paper reviews China's experience with policy reforms since the 1950s and the measures the effects of these reforms on the agriculture sector. Unfortunately, due to data constraints, we can only produce quantitative measures of distortions since the early 1980s, that is for the past 25 years. Due to the nature of China's agricultural experience over the last six decades, this review emphasizes the sectoral and macroeconomic policies and elements of the institutional framework that have influenced the incentive framework facing the sector and factor markets. The tradeand price/marketing-policy-related changes in incentives for different products are reflected in estimated rates of government assistance (Nominal Rates of Assistance, NRAs, Direct Rates of Assistances, DRAs and consumer subsidies).

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Scott Rozelle

Reforming Intellectual Property Rights, Bio-safety Management and the Bt Cotton Seed Industry in China: Who Benefits from Policy Reform?

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China has been one of the leaders in agricultural biotechnology research and the adoption of transgenic plants. Despite this, critics argue that Chinese biotechnology policies could be improved to provide more benefits to farmers and more incentives to companies for greater research. The objective of the paper is to examine if policy changes could improve the welfare of producers and consumers and others in the cotton industry. The paper first reviews recent changes in laws and policies that affect China's plant biotechnology sector, IPR legislation, changes in bio-safety regulation and seed industry reforms. Next, using a primary data set collected from more than 1700 plots from a sample of farmers in northern China in 1999, 2000 and 2001, we econometrically estimate the effect of changes to intellectual property rights (IPR), bio-safety regulation and seed industry reform on farmer pesticide use and yields. The results are used as the basis of a simulation exercise designed to measure the size and distribution of the benefits (and costs) of reform. We find that improvements to the IPR environment, enhanced enforcement of China's bio-safety management regulation and greater commercialization of the seed industry positively affect the benefit of producers, consumers and technology providers.

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Scott Rozelle

The Challenge of Molding the Next Generation of High Tech Leadership in China

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From an unprecedented number of start-ups to a rising class of billion-dollar giants going global, high technology companies in China have a dramatically increasing need for effective leadership and will soon be facing a immense talent shortage. Even to seasoned executives, the current operating environment seems like a new frontier, due to extreme dynamism caused by rapid economic growth, state-to-private enterprise transition, emerging markets and other factors.

During the past year SPRIE and Heidrick & Struggles, a premier global executive search firm, have partnered to collect data and conduct in-depth interviews with executives in China's high tech firms. Research questions included: What principles and practices are executives using to lead their organizations effectively? How do these compare with practices in other regions? What talent strategies are executives using to promote the next generation of leaders?

As the product of this research goes public, SPRIE has invited two leading executives to give their own "view from the trenches" on the challenges of creating the next generation of high tech leaders in China.

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William F. Miller Moderator
Jack Q. Gao Vice President, Apac Emerging Geography Speaker Autodesk, Inc.
Michael Zhao President and CEO Speaker Array Networks, Inc.
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Leadership in China's High Tech Companies

Doo-Hyon Choi

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall, Room E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 725-6773 (650) 723-6530
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POSCO NGO Fellow
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Doo-Hyon Choi has been involved in NGOs for nine years including the Jeonbuk Civil Movement Association and the Environment Movement Federation.

His works with NGOs have focused on realization of self-government and democratization of Korea's Jeonbuk province while speaking for the rights and interests of underpriviledged people. His most recent involvement as a NGO activist has been as part of the protest against Saemangum reclamation project.

His research will focus on social capital, defined as the advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships. He wants to research how some people gain more success in a particular setting through their superior connections to other people.

He is a Ph.D candidate in Politics specialized in NGO structure and activities.

The Development, Challenges and Management of Ground Water in Rural China

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The history of groundwater in China is one of extremes, or apparent extremes. Before the 1960s, the story was one of neglect; only a small fraction of China's water supply came from groundwater (Nickum, 1988). Almost none of the Ministry of Water Resource's investment funds were allocated to the groundwater sector until the late 1960s. Certainly, to the extent that underground water resources were valuable, China was ignoring a valuable resource. Since the mid-1970s, however, the prominence of the groundwater sector has risen dramatically. Over the last 30 years, agricultural producers, factory managers and city officials, far from ignoring groundwater resources, have entered an era of exploitation (Smil, 1993; Brown and Halweil, 1998). Arguably, there have been more tube wells sunk in China over the last quarter century than anywhere else in the world. As a share of total water supply, ground water has risen from a negligible amount across most of China to being a primary source of water for agriculture, industry and domestic use in many of the nation's most productive regions. Unfortunately, the resulting fall in groundwater tables has been one of China's most serious environmental problems.

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Chapter in The Development, Challenges and Management of Groundwater in Rural China. Groundwater in Developing World Agriculture: Past, Present and Options for a Sustainable Future, Edited by Mark Giordano and Tushaar Shah, International Water Manage
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Scott Rozelle

Leadership in China's High Tech Companies

From an unprecedented number of start-ups to a rising class of billion-dollar giants going global, high technology companies in China have a dramatically increasing need for effective leadership. Since 1999, founders have led 24 Chinese firms to IPOs on NASDAQ, ranging from portals such as Sina and AsiaInfo in 2000 to mobile hardware makers and service providers like Hurray!, Vimicro, and Techfaith in 2005.

Qingkun Ma

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Qingkun Ma is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2006-07. He is the President Assistant / Prime Engineer of Huabei Oilfield Company. Ma received his Bachelor's degree on Exploit Oil Process from China Petroleum University in 1982. He is currently a PhD candidate of Chinese Academy of Science.

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Trade on Human Terms: Transforming Trade for Human Development in Asia and the Pacific

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Against the backdrop of export-led growth of some economies -- most notably China and India -- human development issues in Asia tend to be overlooked. The 2006 report Trade on Human Terms, produced by the United Nations Development Programme, finds that trade has contributed to further increasing the inequality both between and within countries. In addition, it warns that many of the region's open economies, particularly the East Asian success stories, are creating far fewer jobs, especially for youth and women, and experiencing "jobless growth." Many of the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific are now net importers of agricultural products; food security has thus become an emerging issue.

While Asia and the Pacific have embraced globalization, the regions poor are being left behind and will be so without determined action by governments. The report recommends that those countries adopt bold new policies that harness trade and economic growth, suggesting an "eight-point agenda" that includes investing for competitiveness; adopting strategic trade policies; restoring a focus on agriculture; combating jobless growth; and others.

Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha will discuss the findings and recommendations of this ground-breaking and thoughtful report which can be viewed at:

Asia - Pacific Human Development Report 2006

Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha is UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP assistant administrator and director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. He has served as the commerce and trade minister, minister for finance and economic affairs, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and education minister in three government administrations in Pakistan.

Prior to his government work, Dr. Pasha was the vice chancellor/president of the University of Karachi and dean and director of the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, Pakistan.

Dr. Pasha has published extensively in the fields of trade, public finance, social development, and poverty reduction. He has an M.A. from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Pasha was recently awarded the Congressional Medal of Achievement by the Philippines Congress in recognition of his work on poverty reduction, achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the Asia-Pacific countries and his role in leading UNDP's response to the 2004 tsunami tragedy.

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Hafiz A. Pasha UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific Speaker The United Nations Development Programme
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