The Iranian poultry sector has experienced many significant structural changes in recent years. Such changes may have influenced price dynamics and transmission of shocks through marketing channels especially on retail markets. This paper investigate price transmission, threshold behavior and asymmetric adjustment in poultry sector of Ardebil (AR), east Azerbaijan (EA) and west Azerbaijan (WA) provinces using weekly price data for the period covering 1998 through 2012. Our analysis uses a threshold cointegration model that permits asymmetric adjustment to positive and negative price shocks. R software is used for data analyzing. Main findings reveal existence of asymmetry in price transmission for all markets. Based on minimizing of the sum of squared error (SSR) criterion the estimated threshold for EA-AR, WA-AR and EA-WA markets are (0.38, 1.217), (1.61, 0.211), (0.38, 1.95), respectively. As another try the thresholds are estimated using TVECM methodology and the same results are found. پرونده مقاله

Institutionalization of Water Users’ Cooperatives (WUAS) is one of the strategies for cooperative irrigation management, which lays the foundation for the participation of farmers in tackling water shortage challenge to reach the objectives of sustainable management of agricultural water in an efficient manner. The main purpose of the present study was to identify the grounds for improving WUAs and prioritizing the effective factors for developing and strengthening these cooperatives. The statistical population was comprised of experts and members of the board of directors as well as elite farmers who were WUAs members in 2015 (n=40). The interviewees were selected through consensus sampling. The analytic hierarchy process was used to prioritize the mechanism of improvement and development of WUAs. Based on the final weights of the criteria, the mechanisms received the following scores: supportive mechanism (0.266), agricultural irrigation management (0.261), economic mechanism (0.183), education and extension (0.123), and legal mechanism (0.090) and WUA’s members’ attitude (0.076). Accordingly, the supportive, agricultural irrigation management and economic mechanisms were the most important mechanisms to improve WUAs. Hence, it is recommended that low-interest financing should be provided by the Agriculture Jihad Organization in collaboration with the Agricultural Bank for transforming from traditional irrigation to localized irrigation. پرونده مقاله

Rice plays an especial role in Iranian households' nutrition basket. The volatilities of its price during recent years caused consumers' dissatisfaction. This paper investigates spillover effects of price volatilities (at the wholesale and retail levels) in the Guilan Province rice market. The Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Hetroscedasitic (GARCH) model was used for the monthly time period of 1999 to 2013. As the results of the unit root tests showed, the monthly time series of Sadri-Momtaz variety wholesale price and Sadri-Momtaz variety retail price have unit roots in zero frequency or they are I(1). Considering the amounts of trace and maximum eigen values statistics, there is a long-run relationship between Sadri-Momtaz variety wholesale and retail monthly price time series. Coefficients of normalized cointegration vector showed that, with one percent increase (decrease) in retail price, it would be likely that wholesale price could increase (decrease) by 0.99 percent. Results of GRACH model revealed that spillover effects exist from the retail price to the wholesale price and vice versa. In addition, price volatility in retail and wholesale levels had positive and significant effects on its own level price volatility. Accordingly, providing proper policy packages in both supply and demand sides were advised. پرونده مقاله

Given the importance of knowledge-based firms in the agricultural sector, this paper aimed to identify barriers hindering companies from becoming knowledge-based in the dominant competitive and dynamic environment. To this end, using a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data from 38 experts and managers in agricultural companies working in Alborz Science and Technology Park Isfahan, Hamedan, and Tehran University. The main criterion for determining the sample size was to reach the theoretical saturation. All respondents were selected using a theoretical and purposeful sampling method. Data coding and analysis procedures were completed in three stages. According to the results of the study, five main internal and external elements were identified: market inefficiency, governance-administrative barriers, inefficient union or organization, lack of skills and professionalism, and the internal inefficiency of the company. پرونده مقاله

Since conventional foods can have different negative effects on human health and cause a variety of diseases, including cancer, the use of functional foods is highly recommended. In this study, the attitudinal factors affecting the acceptance of functional dairy foods (FDF) by urban consumers in Rasht (Guilan province, northern Iran) were investigated. Data were obtained from 223 households in Rasht City. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to investigate the effects of the general purchasing component as well as those of benefits of FDF, need of functional dairy foods, confidence in functional dairy foods, safety of functional dairy foods, health consciousness and healthy lifestyle, and willingness to buy FDF. The results show that the components of attitude towards healthy lifestyle and the general component of purchasing were the most effective factors in determining the acceptance of FDF by the households of Rasht City. The designed model explains 79.5 percent of the variation in willingness to use FDF. Given the benefits of consuming these products in preventing diseases and reducing health costs, public investments in awareness raising campaigns are needed to promote healthy lifestyle among urban consumers and increase the acceptance of FDF in Iran. پرونده مقاله

The objective of this study was to estimate the recreational value of Chitgar forest park and the willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors to this park using the contingent valuation method (CVM). The questionnaire was used for data collection. The Cochran formula was applied to determine the required sample size for the survey. The random sampling method was used to survey. The double-bounded dichotomous choice approach was used to design the questionnaire. A logit regression model was used to estimate the relationship between WTP and explanatory variables. The results of the logit model showed that WTP had a significant negative relationship with the explanatory variables such as the respondent's age, household size, education level, and membership in non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, results indicated that WTP had a positive relation with respondents' gender, marital status, and monthly household revenue as the explanatory variables. Results showed that the maximum expected WTP of visitors was 79630 IRRials. Furthermore, results showed that the total annual economic value of the recreation in Chitgar forest park was 38.9 billion IRRials. The results of this study can help decision-makers to enhance the quality of Chitgar forest park, develop tourism, increase the number of visitors, and generate revenue for the park. پرونده مقاله