2014-06-22 papers

on Marketing

Issue of 2014–06–22
two papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior

Direct seed marketing program in Ethiopia in 2013: An operational evaluation to guide seed-sector reform: By Benson, Todd; Spielman, David J.; Kasa, Leulsegged
The Price Impact of Joining a Currency Union: Evidence from Latvia By Alberto Cavallo; Brent Neiman; Roberto Rigobon

Direct seed marketing program in Ethiopia in 2013: An operational evaluation to guide seed-sector reform:

By:	Benson, Todd; Spielman, David J.; Kasa, Leulsegged
Abstract:	In 2013 the Bureaus of Agriculture in the regional states of Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia supported a program of direct marketing of certified seed by seed producers to farmers across 31 woredas (districts). This program stands in contrast to the dominant procedure for supplying such seed in which farmers register with local agricultural offices or extension agents to purchase seed for the coming cropping season and then receive seed either directly from these local offices or through local cooperatives. The evaluation shows that competition between entrepreneurial seed producers to capture a substantial portion of the market of farmer-customers for their seed to enable their firms to remain in business will propel wider and more effective distribution of new and improved hybrid maize to more and more farmers.
Keywords:	Seed markets, Private sector, Hybrids, Hybrid maize, evaluation, Smallholders, seed sector,
Date:	2014
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1350

The Price Impact of Joining a Currency Union: Evidence from Latvia

By:	Alberto Cavallo; Brent Neiman; Roberto Rigobon
Abstract:	Does membership in a currency union matter for prices and for a country's real exchange rate? The answer to this question is critical for thinking about the implications of joining (or exiting) a common currency area. This paper is the first to use high-frequency good-level data to demonstrate that the answer is yes, at least for an important subset of consumption goods. We consider the case of Latvia, which recently dropped its pegged exchange rate and joined the euro zone. We analyze the prices of thousands of differentiated goods sold by Zara, the world's largest clothing retailer. Price dispersion between Latvia and euro zone countries collapsed swiftly following entry to the euro. The percentage of goods with nearly identical prices in Latvia and Germany increased from 6 percent to 89 percent. The median size of price differentials declined from 7 percent to zero.
JEL:	E3 F3 F4
Date:	2014–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20225

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