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Several studies investigate the various aspects of tobacco at the processing and cigarette manufacturing levels, but the profitability, supply response, and input demand of tobacco farms in Pakistan remain unknown. Our study fills this gap by examining farm-level profitability, input demand, and output supply using survey data of 140 tobacco farms by employing a profit function approach. The results show that tobacco production is not very lucrative at the farm level and farmers are responsive to changes in market prices for the inputs and output. The price of tobacco is the most important determinant of the output supply and demand for inputs, and farmers' response to increasing tobacco prices is positive but inelastic in the study area. The use of variable inputs such as fertilizers, labor, mechanical power, pesticides, and farmyard manure is important in resource allocation decisions in tobacco production. As a result, a price increase for green tobacco leaves would significantly increase the demand for farm inputs such as fertilizers, labor, mechanical power, pesticides, and farmyard manure. Tobacco production is negatively affected by the increasing input prices in the study area. Among the fixed factors, land area has a significant impact on tobacco productivity in the province. The present study is the first to quantify the farm-level input demand and output supply; therefore, based on the findings, the increasing tobacco production requires higher output prices and reasonable input prices.

The objective of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework where firms are maximizing profit taking into account a reallocation cost. This we do by introducing a reference-dependent profit function. It is shown in this paper that such a reference-dependent profit function is a useful concept to partly explain the existence of inefficiency for firms. Along this line it is shown that one can construct a suitable dynamical process quantifying the catching up of firms to reach the production frontier at each time period.

Duality in microeconomic theory refers to the description of the same economic phenomenon by different sets of variables: quantities and prices. It relies on the price-taking behavior of economic agents. This paper takes the challenge of delivering a comprehensive analysis of monopsony in the labor market from a duality perspective. The standard monopsonist's short-run normalized profit maximization model is enriched by the introduction of the non-wage determinant of the labor supply which takes the role of the price of the newly introduced pseudo labor. The pseudo production and pseudo cost functions are identified as dual functions of the short-run normalized profit function of monopsonist for the given labor supply function. Duality as a way of thinking enables an elegant derivation of a version of Hotelling’s lemma in the monopsony case. Finally, comparative statistics reveal interesting economic relations, important for the empirical investigation.

We propose a new methodology to estimate empirically the input price-induced technical change and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in China. Our primary goal is to test Hicks’ induced innovation hypothesis by examining whether technical change in China has been induced by sharp increase in input prices that have accompanied its rapid economic growth. Utilizing the idea of a firm’s two-stage optimization problem, we develop a new parametric form of the variable profit function wherein the derived input demand and output supply functions can be easily constrained to be regular, and the functional structure is parsimonious in the number of parameters. Applying this methodology to Chinese time series data for 1986–2017, we find that not only is wage-induced innovation significant and quantitatively important, but also that it substantially buffered a decline in TFP growth before 2006 that would otherwise be substantial. Overall, we conclude that China’s economic growth is predominantly driven by wage-induced innovation along with massive injection of heavily subsidized physical inputs in public works and huge investment in industrial sectors.

On-farm experimentation to guide fertilizer recommendations is a potential precision agriculture tool. There is, however, no agreement on the optimal way to conduct on-farm experimentation, which motivated this paper. Optimal on-farm experimentation is addressed using fully Bayesian decision theory. Monte Carlo integration was used, assuming a linear stochastic plateau model with spatially correlated plateau parameters. The spatially varying coefficient model was used to guide the application of site-specific nitrogen. For the Monte Carlo simulation, the true economic optimal nitrogen value was held constant in each plot. Of the designs considered, experimenting on 15 out of 100 plots of a field with treatment levels that were wider than the true optimal levels and with fewer plots at the lowest nitrogen level maximized the farmers' profit over several years. The third year was the best time to quit experimenting. Much current work experiments on the whole field. With a spatially varying coefficient model, much information is gained without experimenting on every plot. The recommended approach is thus to experiment on a few plots scattered throughout the field.

This study attempts to estimate the output supply and input demand elasticities of rice production using the restricted normalized translog profit function for the four major paddy producing districts; Anuradhapura, Hambantota, Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka. In addition, elasticities of substitution between inputs are also estimated. The results suggest that the changes in market prices of inputs and output significantly affect the farmers’ profits, rice supply and the use of resources in paddy cultivation. The supply elasticity of rice with respect to its own price is 0.5 and the supply elasticity of output with respect to fertilizer price is -0.05 on an average. Fertilizer demand in the country is inelastic but significant to its own price. Therefore, fertilizer subsidy is one of the main factors to increase fertilizer demand as well as paddy supply in the country. In addition, the low elasticity of substitution between labour and fertilizer and other inputs indicates that there is a complementary relationship among these inputs hence their combined application increases paddy production synergistically. Overall, this study suggest that farmers are price sensitive and assures prevalence of higher output price is essential for higher rice production.

In contemporary society, proper waste management is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. Waste management encompasses the collection, transportation, segregation and disposal of waste material to minimize health risks and environment impact. Manual segregation, along with other methods of waste segregation, is often inefficient and time consuming. To address this challenge, numerous industries have embraced automation in waste sorting to expedite the process through advanced technological interventions. Therefore, the optimal functioning of the components of these automated systems is crucial for rapid and accurate segregation of waste. This work is oriented toward the study of a system which is used to segregation of waste and known as waste sorting robotic arm system (WSRAS). Author used Markov decision process, along with mathematical modeling, to evaluate the different performance measure of WSRAS. Sensitivity analysis have also been done to understand the contribution of different components failure in overall performance of WSRAS.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate various reliability measures like availability, reliability, mean time to failure and profit function. Design/methodology/approach The authors present a novel method for availability analysis of an engineering system incorporating waiting time to repair. The considered system consists of two subsystems, namely, A and B connected in series. The subsystem B has two identical units in standby arrangement. Each unit of the subsystem has two modes, i.e. normal efficiency or failed. The two standby units of the subsystem B are connected by an imperfect switching. The system is analyzed by supplementary variable technique, Laplace transformation and Gumbel-Hougaard family of copula. Findings Numerical examples with a way to highlight the important results have been appended at last. Numerical calculation shows that availability and reliability of the system is decreasing with respect to time when failure rates are fixed at different values. Finally, cost analysis of system reveals that the expected profit decreases with increase in service cost. Originality/value This paper presents a mathematical model in which an important aspect of switching has been taken into consideration, which is consistent with actual failures of switching by assuming two different types of failure between adjacent transition. It is evaluated with the help of the Gumbel-Hougaard family of copula.

The present study investigates a Feeding system, which is responsible for continuous coal supply to the boiler of coal fired power plants. As a result of complex working condition in the power plant, feeding system is prone to system failure. Therefore, analyzing the various reliability indices, their significance and importance of different components is pivotal. The feeding system comprises of different components, such as a primary feeder, secondary feeder, stacker reclaimer, and a set of primary and secondary conveyors. A continuous coal supply is needed for the smooth functioning of power plant boilers, and an appropriate maintenance strategy is essential. In the present study Markov process is utilized to develop a mathematical model of the Feeding system, which is used to evaluate the system’s reliability parameters. Numerical results for various system parameters are obtained and illustrated with graphs. In addition, sensitivity analysis is also conducted to comprehend the impact of different failures on the system's overall performance. Also, the expected profit of the system is assessed. This research is imperative for improving operational efficiency in power plants and intensify economic benefits.

Background Farm productivity on smallholder family-owned crop farms remains low despite several interventions to transform agriculture especially in developing countries. Farmers in rural areas face serious constraints that impede their productive capacities for the principal dietary staple, notably maize. Smallholder farmers have access to unprofitable markets that in turn make their enterprises less profitable. Efforts to commercialise smallholder maize production have not yielded desired results. This study, therefore, estimates profit efficiency and its determinants in the smallholder cropping systems in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Methodology A random sample of 158 smallholder maize farmers was selected. A normalised translog profit function was then fitted by means of a one-step estimation of technical efficiency and its determinants using the STATA software. Results The results indicate that cost of fertiliser and area under cultivation for maize were the positive drivers of profitability. Complementarities among resources were very important determinants of profit. Conclusion The study concludes that family-owned farms have a positive effect on crop production. Farm profits rise with cultivated area in maize farms. Therefore, the study recommends that policy favouring smallholder commercialisation would improve farm profits.