342 Agricultural Knowledge Comprehensive IV (Master of Agriculture, Agricultural Management)

China · Set by each admitting university (sample: Beijing University of Agriculture) · pg

18practice questions written to this syllabus
5subjects

Format

150 marks, 3 hours.

Sections

Over the years

A specialised paper within kaoyan; the sample is one university's paper.

Official source: https://yz.bua.edu.cn/info/1075/2634.htm

Subjects this exam draws on

Agricultural Marketing & Price Analysis5 questionsAgribusiness Environment & Policy3 questionsAgricultural Production Economics1 questionsInternational Agri Trade & Export Management6 questionsAgricultural Development & Policy Analysis3 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. Which statement correctly distinguishes a futures market from a spot (cash) market?

  1. Spot markets are always regulated; futures markets are never regulated
  2. Futures trade standardised exchange contracts for later delivery; spot markets exchange the good and payment now
  3. Futures markets deal only in the physical produce on the spot; spot markets deal only in paper contracts for later delivery
  4. Futures contracts are negotiated privately with non-standard terms
Answer and working

B. Futures trade standardised exchange contracts for later delivery; spot markets exchange the good and payment now

A futures contract is standardised (quantity, grade, delivery month) and exchange traded. A privately negotiated contract with custom terms is a forward contract, not a futures contract. Both spot and futures markets can be regulated.

Agricultural Marketing & Price Analysis · Classification of markets

2. Why can a developing country's market price support appear to breach its AMS limit even when its administered price is below the current world price?

  1. Because the AMS is measured in current world prices converted at the latest market exchange rate
  2. Because green box spending is added to the AMS
  3. Because the de minimis limit for developing countries is zero once administered prices are announced
  4. Because the AMS uses a fixed 1986-88 external reference price that is not adjusted for inflation
Answer and working

D. Because the AMS uses a fixed 1986-88 external reference price that is not adjusted for inflation

Market price support = (administered price - fixed external reference price) x eligible production. With the reference price fixed at 1986-88 levels, inflation and currency changes can create large 'support' on paper. This is behind the public stockholding debate and the 2013 Bali interim peace clause.

Agribusiness Environment & Policy · WTO Agreement on Agriculture compliance

3. The elasticity of substitution between two inputs is defined as

  1. the percentage change in the input ratio divided by the percentage change in the MRTS
  2. the percentage change in output divided by the percentage change in one variable input
  3. the ratio of the two marginal products at the current input combination
  4. the sum of the two production elasticities, measured at the sample mean
Answer and working

A. the percentage change in the input ratio divided by the percentage change in the MRTS

sigma = d ln(X2/X1) / d ln(MRTS). It measures the curvature of the isoquant. The percentage change in output over one input is the elasticity of production; MPP ratio is the MRTS; the sum of elasticities is returns to scale.

Agricultural Production Economics · Factor-factor relationship

4. In UNCTAD's international classification of non-tariff measures, chapters A and B cover:

  1. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade
  2. Export taxes and export bans
  3. Tariffs and tariff-rate quotas applied at the border by customs
  4. Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures (contingent protection)
Answer and working

A. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade

Chapter A is SPS and chapter B is TBT, the most frequent NTMs affecting agri-food trade. Contingent protection and export measures come in later chapters; tariffs are not NTMs.

International Agri Trade & Export Management · Tariffs and non-tariff measures

5. China introduced minimum purchase prices for its two main food grains in

  1. wheat in 1978 and rice in 1985
  2. rice and wheat together in 2016
  3. maize in 2004 and rice in 2006
  4. rice in 2004, wheat in 2006
Answer and working

D. rice in 2004, wheat in 2006

China set a minimum purchase price for rice in 2004 and wheat in 2006. 2016 is when maize moved from temporary stockpiling toward market pricing with producer subsidies; 1978 is the start of the Household Responsibility System.

Agricultural Development & Policy Analysis · Price policy and minimum support prices

Practise it, and prove it

These notes are free to read here, with no account.

What the Laisha app adds:

Free for ten days, then a subscription. We would rather write that here than have you find it later.

Open Laisha →