bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Demand for Information Services: An Application to Lowbush Blueberry Producers in Eastern Canada
Authors: Gervais Jean‐Philippe , Lambert Rémy , Boutin‐Dufresne François
Published: July 2005

Information needs have rapidly evolved in agricultural markets but little is known about how information is transmitted to agricultural producers. Producers must collect information to better manage their production, marketing and financial decisions. Using survey data obtained from a questionnaire distributed to lowbush blueberry producers in eastern Canada, we analyze how producers' individual characteristics impact their demand for different information services. Minimum distance estimation of the structural ordered probit equations indicates that:

Confidence in the information service is a central determinant of the frequency at which a producer refers to a specific service.

Producers' experience partially explains the demand for information obtained from agricultural newsletters and magazines, university publications, field days and workshops and crop specialists from the government.

Blueberry acreage has not a strong impact on the demand of information.

There exist few regional effects in the demand of information services.

Our results strongly support the claim that confidence in an information service and the demand for the service itself are endogenously determined.

Les besoins d'information ont vite évolué en agriculture, mais on sait peu de choses sur la manière dont l'information parvient aux producteurs. Ces derniers doivent se renseigner pour mieux gérer leur production, mettre leurs denrées en marché et prendre des décisions financières. Grêce aux données d'un sondage effectué auprès des producteurs de bleuets nains de l'Est du Canada, les auteurs ont analysé l'impact des paramètres personnels sur la demande de services d'information. L'estimation à distance minimale des équations à probits ordonnés structurellement indique : i) que la confiance dans le service d'information constitue le principal facteur déterminant la fréquence à laquelle les producteurs font appel à un service particulier, ii) que l'expérience du producteur explique en partie la demande pour l'information issue des gazettes et des magazines agricoles, des publications universitaires, des démonstrations et des ateliers ainsi que des agronomes du gouvernement, iii) que la superficie de bleuets cultivée n'a pas une grande incidence sur la demande d'information et iv) que la région agit peu sur la demande d'information. Les résultats de l'analyse étayent fortement l'allégation que la confiance dans un service d'information et la demande pour un tel service sont des facteurs endogènes.
Econometric Implications of Rectangular Hyperbolic Crop–Weed Competition
Authors: Moffitt L. Joe
Published: July 2005

Estimation of the rectangular hyperbolic model of crop–weed competition by the method of maximum likelihood is investigated. Econometric implications of the rectangular hyperbolic form and normal stochastic specification are derived from the associated Fisher information matrix. Analysis explains some of the experience with the model in empirical work and clarifies the nature of statistical data that are advantageous to parameter estimation. Numerical examples are used to illustrate the relationship between the econometric problem and underlying information. Results provide agricultural economists with sound reasons for recommending specific changes in data collection choices although, in contrast to some existing perceptions, only some fairly minor changes in commonly used experimental design will be necessary to meet agricultural economists' research objectives.

L'évaluation du modèle hyperbolique rectangulaire de la concurrence entre la récolte et les mauvaises herbes par la méthode de maximum de vraisemblance est étudiée. Des implications économétriques de la forme hyperbolique rectangulaire et du cahier des charges stochastique normal sont dérivées de la matrice associée de l'information de Fisher. L'analyse explique une partie de l'expérience avec le modèle dans le travail empirique et clarifie la nature des données statistiques qui sont avantageuses à l'évaluation de paramètre. Des exemples numériques sont employés pour illustrer le rapport entre le problème économétrique et l'information fondamentale. Les résultats fournissent aux économistes agronomes des raisons saines pour recommander les changements spécifiques des choix de collecte de données bien que, contrairement à quelques perceptions existantes, seulement quelques changements assez mineurs de conception expérimentale généralement utilisée seront nécessaires pour répondre aux objectifs des recherches des économistes agronomes.
Bayesian Inference and Posterior Simulators
Authors: Geweke John
Published: July 2005

This paper was prepared for invited presentation at the American Agricultural Economics Association meetings, Chicago, August 2001. Partial financial support from National Science Foundation grant SES‐9731037 is gratefully acknowledged as well as Xavier Irz's able translation of the abstract.

Recent advances in simulation methods have made possible the systematic application of Bayesian methods to support decision making with econometric models. This paper outlines the key elements of Bayesian investigation, and the simulation methods applied to bring them to bear in application.

Les récents développements dans les méthodes de simulation rendent possible l'application systématique de l'approche Bayésienne afin de développer des outils économétriques d'aide à la décision. Cet article présente les éléments essentiels de l'approche Bayésienne ainsi que les méthodes de simulation utilisées lors de son application.
An Economic Comparison of Production Systems for Sheep
Authors: Fisher J. W.
Published: July 2005

Three production systems for sheep are modeled: spring, winter and accelerated lambing. Actual market price and lamb size over a seven‐year period (1992–98 inclusive) were used to determine which production/marketing system provides the most contribution margin,1 taking into account costs of production for each system. To determine the cost of production for each system, consensus meetings (a modified Delphi Method) are used to determine costs for 1998 and are then indexed back over the seven years using the Farm Input Price Index. Linear programming2 (contribution margin maximizing) computer models are designed. The results indicate that over the seven‐year period, one ewe would show a total contribution margin of $357 in a spring lambing system from a total of 9.80 lambs, $517 in a winter lambing system from 12.25 lambs, and $755 in an accelerated lambing system from 17.64 lambs. Although preference has shifted to larger lambs in the past five years, Christmas and Easter are by far the most important and preferred target markets for any size lamb.

Trois systemes de production d'agneaux ont été modelés: agnelage d'automne, agnelage d'hiver et agnelage accéléré. Le prix du marché actuel et la taille des agneaux ont été résuméà travers une période de sept ans (1992–1998 inclusivement). Le prix et la taille ont donc été utilisé pour déterminer quel systéme de production/marketing fournirait la plus grande marge de contribution en ce qui a trait à la taille et le prix des agneaux ainsi que le coût de production. En 1998, plusieurs sessions de discussion ont eu lieu pour en arriver à une opinion commune sur le coût de production pour chaque système. Les prix ont alors été indexe pour les sept années précédentes. On a ensuite conçu des modèles d'optimisation (maximisation de la marge de contribution). Les résultats indiquent qu'il y a une préférence de poids des agneaux associéà des différents périodes au niveau du marché. On a également conclu que certains systèmes d'agnelage sont plus économiques que d'autres dans la production d'agneaux et ce, pour chaque marché.
State Trading Enterprises: Some Legal and Conceptual Issues
Authors: McCorriston Steve , MacLaren Donald
Published: July 2005

State trading may become an important issue in the current WTO negotiations on agricultural trade as witnessed by some of the recent proposals for negotiating agendas. On the premise that state trading enterprises can hinder market access in importing countries and can affect export competition, it has been proposed that state trading enterprises should be pan of the negotiations. We consider the current status of state trading enterprises in the GATT framework and summarize the list of concerns relating to the effects which they may have on agricultural trade. Drawing on some recent research, we show that state trading enterprises are likely to influence market access and export competition under trade liberalization when measured relative to a benchmark of imperfect competition.
The Potential Impacts of State Trading Enterprises on World Markets: The Exporting Country Case
Authors: Carter Colin A. , Smith Vincent H.
Published: July 2005

Export state trading enterprises (STEs) play an important role in global agricultural trade. STE behavior has significant implications for world food markets, irrespective of whether or not these markets are inherently competitive. Previous literature has suggested that STEs have market power and can earn oligopolistic rents. We find there is no compelling empirical evidence to support this argument. However, we show the cross‐commodity effects of export STEs can disrupt competitive world markets, through offering an implicit export subsidy to a downstream industry.
State Trading and China's Agricultural Import Policies
Authors: Martin Will
Published: July 2005

WTO rules on state trading operating through provisions on state trading (Article XVII) and on tariff bindings (Article II) discipline import protection in line with countries' tariff bindings as long as sufficient information is available to monitor the behavior of state trading enterprises. China's economic reforms have left state trading a minor part of its trade regime overall, although it applies to trade in important agricultural commodities, and oil. China's commitments in its WTO accession package will make policy much more transparent and allow China to develop a highly efficient agricultural sector. This policy stance also highlights the pressing need for improved policies to counter rural poverty.
The Divergence in Canada‐U.S. Grain and Oilseed Policies
Authors: Schmitz Andrew , Gray Richard
Published: July 2005

This paper discusses U.S. and Canadian farm programs for grains and oilseeds. In spite of the passage of the U.S. FAIR Act in 1996, where subsidies were to be greatly reduced, subsidies reached an all‐time high of over $20 billion in 2000. In Canada, just the opposite occurred, as support for the grains and oilseeds sector has dropped sharply since the mid‐1990s. In addition to differences in support levels, the farm prog rams are very different. NISA and AIDA are prominent in the landscape in Canada, while under FAIR, loan deficiency payments are a key ingredient. We provide some explanations for the divergence in farm programs between the two countries, including a discussion of rent seeking and public choice.
Private Insurance Company Involvement in the U.S. Crop Insurance Program
Authors: Ker Alan P.
Published: July 2005

The participation of intermediaries in either public policy or private markets can be justified on the basis of efficiency gains. With respect to private insurance companies and the crop insurance program, efficiency gains may arise from either decreased transaction costs through better established delivery channels and/or the revelation of asymmetric information. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that delivery costs are excessive and it appears that for political economy reasons, rates have and will not be adjusted in response to new information. In conclusion, the value‐added of private insurance companies is questioned in light of the current political economy and thus should serve as a caution to other countries wishing to emulate the U.S. system.
Identity Preservation and International Trade: Signaling Quality across National Boundaries
Authors: Hobbs Jill E. , Kerr William A. , Phillips Peter W.B.
Published: July 2005

Changing consumer preferences, technological advances, global agri‐food markets and increasing regulation of food quality and safety have created the need for identity‐preserved production and marketing (IPPM) systems, which bridge the gap between differentiated consumers' wants and traditional commodity‐based agri‐food production and marketing systems. The international trading regime is ill equipped to deal with these changes. In the absence of an agreed set of trade rules to regulate trade in differentiated food products, relying on IPPM systems or barring imports of “low‐quality” goods become domestic policy choices. The latter is shown to be an inferior policy option. The sustainability of an IPPM across national boundaries is dependent upon its ability to credibly signal quality to consumers. Incentives to cheat erode this credibility. Horizontal and vertical cooperation through thirdparty certification are key to the long‐run sustainability of IPPM systems.
Reworking the NAFTA: Departures from Traditional Frameworks
Authors: Holloway Garth J.
Published: July 2005

This paper reviews the treatment of intellectual property rights in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and considers the welfare‐theoretic bases for innovation transfer between member and nonmember states. Specifically, we consider the effects of new technology development from within the union and question whether it is efficient (in a welfare sense) to transfer that new technology to nonmember states. When the new technology contains stochastic components, the important issue of information exchange arises and we consider this question in a simple oligopoly model with Bayesian updating. In this context, it is natural to ask the optimal price at which such information should be transferred. Some simple, natural conjugate examples are used to motivate the key parameters upon which the answer is dependent.

L'article que void analyse comment I' Accord de libre‐échange nord‐américain (ALENA) traite la protection de la propriété intellectuelle et s‘attarde sur les principes théoriques du bien‐Aêtre résultant du transfert de I' innovation entre etats membres et non membres. Plus précisément, I'auteur examine les consequences de I'élaboration d'une nouvelle technologie au sein de I'union économique et s'interroge sur I'efficacité (sous I'angle du bien‐être social) du transfert de cette technologie aux états non membres. L'importante question du partage de l'information surgit dès que la nouvelle technologie inclut des elements stochastiques. L'auteur étudie cette question en prenant pour modèle un simple oligopole actualisé par la méthode bayesienne. Dans un tel contexte, il est naturel de réclamer le prix optimal auquel il devrait y avoir partage de I' information. Quelques exemples simples, à conjugué naturel, servent à faire ressortir les principaux paramètres sur lesquels repose la réponse è la question examinée.
Capital Investment under Alternative Marketing Scenarios in the Hog Industry: A Real Option Approach
Authors: Maung Adam , Foster Ken
Published: July 2005

This paper uses a real option approach to analyze the impact of alternative marketing contracts on the decision to invest in a cooperatively owned hog facility. For the numerical analysis of the impact, this paper uses a simulation method that incorporates early exercise, multiple‐state variables, multi‐choice decisions and temporal optimality. The results show that the option values that stem from the value of waiting to invest and choosing between alternative marketing methods amounts to 20–36% of the initial investment. Further, having an option to choose an alternative marketing method with different risk structure does add to the value of waiting to invest. Having an option to enter a 15‐year marketing contract increases the value of waiting by as much as $117,097 for the pork production example in this paper. Finally, the value of the option to wait is unilaterally lower under a risk‐reducing contract scenario than under a spot market alternative. This could explain the explosion in hog production facility investment during the 1990s when prevalence of contract production increased.

Les auteurs ont recouru à l'approche du choix véritable pour analyser l'impact d'autres solutions de mise en marché sur la capacité d'investir ou pas dans un élevage de porcs exploitéà la manière d'une coopérative. Aux fins de l'analyse, on s'est servi d'une méthode de simulation intégrant une brève campagne, de multiples variables d'État, des décisions à choix multiple et des conditions optimales dans le temps. Les résultats indiquent que l'existence d'un choix réel permettant à l'exploitant d'attendre avant d'investir et de sélectionner entre plusieurs méthodes de mise en marché représente 20 à 36 pour cent de l'investissement initial. Par ailleurs, le fait d'avoir accès à une autre méthode de mise en marché, à structure de risque différente, ne donne pas plus de valeur à la capacité d'attendre avant de procéder aux investissements. La possibilité de signer une entente de commercialisation de quinze ans accroît la valeur de l'attente de jusqu'à 117,097 $ pour le type d'élevage porcin retenu comme exemple. Enfin, l'existence d'une entente de commercialisation atténuant les risques réduit unilatéralement la valeur de l'option « attente », comparativement à ce qui se produit quand l'éleveur n'a d'autre choix qu'écouler ses bêtes sur le marché au comptant. Ces résultats pourraient expliquer l'explosion des investissements observée dans le secteur du porc au cours des années 90, où la production sous contrat avait sensiblement augmenté.
The Relationship between Exports, Credit Risk and Credit Guarantees
Authors: Rienstra‐Munnicha Paul , Turvey Calum G.
Published: July 2005

This paper provides an understanding of how the export credit worthiness of an importing country affects export sales of agricultural and other manufactured products and how export credit guarantees or insurance can mitigate risks of nonpayment. A theoretical model is developed. It shows how risk mitigation through export credit insurance could increase exports to high‐risk importing countries. The key result is that the export response curve is more inelastic in the presence of payment risk, and the effect of insurance is to make the export curve more elastic. Statistical evidence supports this fundamental premise.

Le présent article explique comment la solvabilité d'un pays importateur affecte les ventes de produits agricoles et de produits finis à l'étranger et comment la garantie du crédit à l'exportation ou les assurances atténuent les risques de défaut de paiement. Les auteurs proposent un modèle théorique. Ce dernier illustre comment on pourrait accroûtre les exportations vers les pays à risque élevé en atténuant les risques au moyen d'une assurance du crédit à l'exportation. II en ressort principalement que les exportations suivent une courbe moins élastique quand il y a un risque de défaut de paiement et que cette courbe gagne en élasticité avec une assurance. Les auteurs fournissent des preuves statistiques de ce principe élémentaire.
The Economics of Decoupled Farm Payments under Costly and Imperfect Enforcement
Authors: Giannakas Konstantinos , Fulton Murray
Published: July 2005

This paper builds on the literature covering agricultural policy analysis under costly and imperfect enforcement by introducing enforcement costs and misrepresentation into the economic analysis of decoupled farm payments. Specifically, the paper examines the economic causes and consequences of cheating on a stylized decoupled area payment scheme. Policy design and implementation is modeled as a sequential game between a regulator who designs the policy, an agency responsible for policy enforcement, and farmers. Analytical results show that complete deterrence of cheating is not economically efficient when enforcement is costly. The introduction of enforcement costs and cheating changes the welfare effects and transfer efficiency of decoupled area payments, the level of government intervention that transfers a given surplus to producers, the socially optimal income redistribution, and the social welfare from intervention. While the transfer efficiency of the policy is positively related to the extent of farmer misrepresentation, the incorporation of enforcement costs and cheating results in decoupled payments being generally a less efficient means of income redistribution than is traditionally believed. Nevertheless, the analysis shows that decoupled payments remain superior to coupled subsidies as a means of farm income support.

Les auteurs ajoutent à ce qui s'est déjàécrit sur l'analyse des politiques agricoles dans le contexte d'une application imparfaite et onéreuse en intégrant à l'analyse du découplage des paiements agricoles le coût d'une exécution forcée et des fausses déclarations. Plus précisément, l'article examine les causes et les répercussions économiques de la fraude dans le cadre d'un programme stylisé de découplage régional des paiements. l'élaboration et l'application des politiques ont été modélisées comme un jeu séquentiel entre l'organisme de réglementation, qui échafaude la politique, l'organisme chargé d'appliquer cette dernière et les agriculteurs. Les résultats indiquent que combattre la fraude n'est pas économique quand une application forcée de la politique est onéreuse. L'introduction des coûts d'exécution et de la fraude entraîne une modification de l'incidence du programme sur le bien‐être social et de l'efficacité du transfert des paiements découplés aux régions, du degré d'intervention du gouvernement débouchant sur la réalisation d'un certain excédent par les producteurs, de la redistribution socialement optimale des revenus et du bien‐être résultant de l'intervention. Bien que l'efficacité de transfert de la politique présente une corrélation positive avec l'importance des fausses déclarations faites par les producteurs, l'intégration du coût d'une application forcée et de la fraude indique que le découplage des paiements n'est pas aussi efficace qu'on le croyait pour ce qui est de redistribuer les revenus. Malgré cela, l'analyse révèle que le découplage assure un meilleur soutien du revenu que le couplage des subventions.
On the Pricing of Cross Currency Futures Options for Canadian Grains and Livestock
Authors: Turvey Calum G. , Yin Shihong
Published: July 2005

This paper explores the problem of pricing an option on the cash commodity in Canadian dollars when the commodity is priced relative to a U.S. futures market. A general option pricing model is developed that separates out the value of a quantos risk and basis risk. The paper uses daily data for cattle, corn and soybeans in Ontario, and the model is employed to price the option on the cash commodity with basis risk and the option on a quantos, without basis risk. The relationship between the pricing model and over‐the‐counter options and market revenue insurance is also discussed.

L'article examine le problème que pose l'établissement du prix d'une option sur le marché au comptant canadien des denrées de base quand le prix du produit en question doit être établi en fonction d'un marchéà terme américain. Les auteurs proposent un modèle général dans lequel on sépare la valeur du risque par quantos de celle du risque de base pour établir le prix des options. Ils utilisent pour cela le cours quotidien des bovins, du maïs et du soja en Ontario. Le modèle permet de calculer le prix d'une option sur le marché au comptant des denrées de base avec le risque de base et le prix de l'option sur un quantos, sans risque de base. Les auteurs examinent aussi les liens entre le modèle et les options au comptoir ainsi que les assurance‐revenu du marché.
Alternative Policy Instruments for Agriculture Support: Consequences for Trade, Farm Income and Competitiveness
Authors: Dewbre Joe , Short Cameron
Published: July 2005

The views expressed are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development or Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada.
An Overview of the Evolution of Agricultural Cooperatives in Québec
Authors: Doyon Maurice
Published: July 2005

Two agricultural cooperatives dominate in Québec, Coopérative fédérée and Agropur, with sales of 2.4 billion and 1.9 billion, respectively. Although they share similar traits, their evolution over the years has resulted in different business models. In turn, their business models have important implications in terms of their relationship with farmers' union, their sensitivity to policy changes and their approach to capital access problems. Nevertheless, the outlook for agricultural cooperatives in Quebec appears to be good, given the support that the Québec government intends to give them in appreciation of their stability and capability to promote regional development.
Cooperatives and the Commodity Political Agenda: A Political Economy Approach
Authors: Goddard Ellen , Boxall Peter , Lerohl Mel
Published: July 2005

Historically, major agricultural cooperatives in Canada have been intimately involved in commodity policy issues. Large cooperatives were created because farmers were upset about the perceived lack of competition in buying farm inputs or selling farm outputs. Often, the resulting cooperative was the organization farmers saw as the logical organization to represent their view of commodity policy or competition policy. As cooperatives grew and diversified, the ability to represent their members coherently across policy issues was hampered. For processing cooperatives in the supply‐managed sector, the requirement that the cooperative be the political arm of industry, process product, and provide maximum returns to producer members made for a complicated objective function. This paper focuses on the twin objectives of providing efficient member services and performing political lobbying in a public choice framework. The results are illustrated by the recent history of a supply‐managed further‐processing cooperative and a diversified grain cooperative.
Consumers’ Valuation of Functional Properties of Foods: Results from a Canada‐wide Survey
Authors: West Gale E. , Gendron Carole , Larue Bruno , Lambert Rémy
Published: July 2005

Very few economic analyses have been done about functional foods and nutraceuticals. The current paper seeks to characterize Canadian consumers' attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and willingness‐to‐pay for functional foods. In the spring of 2001, a telephone survey of 1008 Canadian household food shoppers was conducted. The questionnaire included stated‐choice experiments to derive distributions of price‐functional property trade‐offs. The majority of respondents appeared willing to purchase and to pay a price premium for functional foods, particularly if the functional property were added to foods derived from plants. Consumers were less receptive to a functional property incorporated in a meat product. A large proportion of respondents negatively perceived genetically modified (GM) and organic foods relative to conventional foods, after controlling for price and the health property. This suggests that there could be a niche market for organic functional foods and that GM functional foods would have to be discounted to attract a wide range of consumers.

Peu d'études ont été réalisées sur les aliments fonctionnels et les nutraceutiques. Notre papier a pour but de caractériser les attitudes, les croyances, les connaissances et la volonté des consommateurs canadiens de payer plus cher pour des aliments fonctionnels. Un sondage téléphonique fut administré auprès de 1008 répondants à trovers le Canada. Des expériences amenant les répondants àénoncer leur préférences en faisant des choix de produits ont été réalisées pour générer les distributions des compromis entre les prix et les propriétés fonctionnelles. La majorité des répondants sontprêt á payer des suppléments pour des propriétés fonctionnelles, surtout si celles‐ci sont ajoutées a des produits dérivés des plantes. Les répondants semblent mains réceptifs aux propriétés ajoutées à de la viande. Une proportion élevée de répondants entretiennent des perceptions négatives des aliments GM et organiques, relativement aux produits conventionnels après avoir contrôlé pour les prix et les propriétés fonctionnelles. Ceci suggère qu'il y aurait un marché niche pour les aliments fonctionnels organiques et que les aliments fonctionnels GM devraient être réduits en prix pour attirer une vaste clientele.
Evolving Supply Chains in the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Industry
Authors: Hobbs Jill E.
Published: July 2005

The rapid growth of the nutraceutical and functional foods industry in recent years has necessitated the development of new supply chain relationships. These supply chains are interesting because of the uncertain regulatory, technological and market environment in which they have evolved. Challenges include concentration in upstream input supply and downstream manufacturing sectors, intellectual property rights protection, asset specific investments in an uncertain market environment, and establishing credible quality signals for credence attributes in an era of regulatory uncertainty and consumer scepticism.
The Impacts on U.S. and Canadian Slaughter and Feeder Cattle Prices of a U.S. Import Tariff on Canadian Slaughter Cattle
Authors: Brester Gary W. , Marsh John M. , Smith Vincent H.
Published: July 2005

On 30 June 1999, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling instructing the U.S. Customs Service to require cash deposits or bonds totaling 4.73% (later increased to 5.57%) of the value of imported Canadian slaughter cattle. In November 1999, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued its final ruling which rescinded the anti‐dumping tariff. If the tariff had been permanently imposed, it would have affected import quantities of Canadian slaughter cattle and U.S. and Canadian slaughter and feeder cattle prices. Excess supply, import demand and price transmission elasticities are estimated and used within a comparative statics framework to estimate the impacts of the tariff had it been permanently imposed. We find that the effects of the tariff would have been small even if offsetting increases in carcass beef imports had not occurred. If offsetting carcass beef imports had occurred, any potential price gains could have been offset by increased logistical costs within the processing sector. Thus, this particular rent‐seeking activity would not have had a significant impact on U.S. cattle prices even if it had been permanently imposed. However, the tariff would have had significant negative effects on Canadian cattle prices.

Le 30 juin 1999, le Département du Commerce des États‐Unis obligeait temporairement les douanes américaines à réclamer un dépôt ou une caution équivalant à 4,73 pour cent (portée à 5,57 pour cent par la suite) de la valeur des bovins de boucherie importés du Canada. En novembre de la même année, la Commission du commerce international américaine rendait sa décision finale, qui abrogeait le tarif anti‐dumping. Eût‐il été maintenu, pareil tarif aurait modifié les importations de bovins d'abattage canadiens, ce qui aurait affecté le prix des bovins d'engrais et d'abattage des deux pays. Les auteurs ont éalué l'offre excédentaire, la demande à l'importation et les élasticités du transfert des prix, puis ont recouru à un cadre de comparaison statique afin d'estimer les incidences du tarif, advenant le cas où il aurait étéétabli à demeure. On se rend compte qu'un tel tarif n'aurait guére eu de répercussions, même en freinant la hausse des importations de carcasses de büf. La majoration éventuelle des prix attribuable à la réduction des importations aurait pu être annulée par les coûts logistiques plus élevés des transformateurs. Par conséquent, cette activité de maximisation de la rente n'aurait pas eu d'impact significatif sur le prix des bovins aux États‐Unis. En revanche, l'imposition permanente du tarif aurait sensiblement diminué le prix des bovins au Canada.
Stochastic Biases in Technical Change in U.S. Agriculture: A Bootstrap Approach
Authors: Balcombe Kelvin , Bailey Alastair , Morrison Jamie
Published: July 2005

Having argued that the modeling of technical change as a smooth deterministic function of time is likely to misrepresent the true nature of technical change, this paper reexamines biased technical change in U.S. agriculture using a system of share equations with unobserved components errors, with technology treated as a stochastic unobserved variable. Employing data to represent the aggregate output and input of the U.S. agricultural sector over the period 1947–94, significant factor biases were found that appear to be linearly independent and do not appear to be smooth and deterministic. Technical change in U.S. agriculture appears to have been biased toward saving expenditure on labor at the expense of expenditure on intermediate inputs, with some small saving on the expenditure on capital inputs over the entire period 1947‐94. The paper also employs a bootstrapping approach in order to obtain finite sample tests with approximately the correct size under less stringent assumptions about the data generating process than assumed by maximum likelihood (ML) based approaches. Using these finite sample values significantly alters the conclusions reached regarding the nature of technical change.

Après avoir démontré que la modélisation du changement technique par une fonction lissée déterministe du temps peut ne pas représenter correctement sa vraie nature, cet papier re‐examine le biais du changement technique dans l'agriculture américaine à partir d'un systè d'équations de parts avec des erreurs non observées et une technologie traitée comme une variable stochastique non observée. A partir de données représentant la production et les intrants agrégés dans le secteur agricole américain sur la période 1947–1994, nous constatons que les biais significatifs sont indépendants linéairement et qui ne sont pas des fonctions déterministes lissées du temps. Le changement technique dans l'agriculture américaine est biaisé en faveur des réductions de dépenses de travail aux dépends des dépenses sur les intrants intermédiaires et montre quelques économies sur les dépenses de capital sur la période 1947‐1994. L'emploi des techniques de bootstrapping permet d'obtenir des tests sur échantillons finis avec des hypothèses moins exigeantes que celles imposées par les approches de maximum de vraisemblance. Les conclusions obtenues à partir de ces tests sont significativement différentes que celles obtenues par les méthodes traditionnelles concernant le changement technique.
An Update on Regulatory Change in the Canadian Grain Handling and Transportation Industry
Authors: Nolan James , Drew Bill
Published: July 2005

We examine the latest process of policy change in the Canadian grain handling and transportation industry. The first part of the paper focuses on how the issue of market power in grain transportation and the subsequent lack of accountability for agricultural shippers were addressed in the initial Estey/Kroeger reviews. Considering the recently published government report on Canadian transportation regulation, the latter part of the paper briefly describes a set of regulatory models for the rail industry and their potential applicability to Canada.

Les auteurs analysent les plus récents changements apportés aux politiques qui régissent la manutention et le transport du grain au Canada. Dans la première partie de leur article, ils expliquent comment les études initiales d'Estey/Kroeger abordaient l'emprise des transporteurs sur le marché et le peu de comptes qu'ils rendaient aux expéditeurs de grain. Dans la seconde, ils décrivent brièvement plusieurs modèles concernant la réglementation de l'industrie ferroviaire et la possibilité de leur application au Canada à la lumière du rapport sur la réglementation des transports récemment rendu public par le gouvernement.
The Impact of Generic Advertising on U.S. Household Cheese Purchases: A Censored Autocorrelated Regression Approach
Authors: Schmit Todd M. , Gould Brian W. , Dong Diansheng , Kaiser Harry M. , Chung Chanjin
Published: July 2005

The impacts of generic cheese advertising on U.S. household cheese purchases are examined via the use of a unique household panel. Modest gains in overall at‐home cheese purchases from generic cheese advertising appear to be largely the result of strong gains in purchases of natural cheese rather than processed cheese. Results indicate that relatively larger gains in household cheese purchases from generic advertising may be realized by targeting infrequent purchasers to increase purchase frequencies, rather than by targeting households in general to increase their conditional purchase levels.
The Value of Dairy Quota under a Commercial Export Milk Program
Authors: Turvey Calum , Weersink Alfons , Martin Craig
Published: July 2005

This paper argues that under a commercial export milk program, the market value of quota will be determined by the spread between the domestic market price and the export price, rather than the conventional wisdom that it is determined by the spread between the domestic milk price and the marginal cost of production. Under this new economy, it is argued that ultimately the market price of dairy quota will be priced independently of firm marginal costs, which implies that low‐cost (or high‐margin) producers will not hold an economic advantage in bidding for quota over higher‐cost producers. Regression results are consistent with the hypothesized positive relationship between quota values and the difference between domestic and export milk price. The average export price has generally increased over time and is approximately equal to the marginal cost for an average producer. The results have implications for a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge. New Zealand and the United States feel the domestic program acts as an export subsidy by cross‐subsidizing production of commercial export milk. The results here suggest that the prices for the filled export contracts are approximately the marginal cost of production for the average producer and not lower, as suggested by the challenge. Export contracts were found to have higher price risk than domestically produced milk. The risk is compounded by the short‐term nature of most export contracts. The increase in risk for the commercial export milk program (CEM) implies that it is unlikely many farmers will greatly diversify into CEM contracts unless the uncertainty is reduced.
Impact of Environmental Policies in the Hog‐Pork Sector on Trade and Market Welfare in North America
Authors: Savard Marielle
Published: July 2005

The objective of this study is to design a framework to assess trade patterns and market welfare (Marshallian measures of producer and consumer surpluses plus government payments) under various combinations of agricultural, environmental and trade policies. To reach this objective, an environmental model, EPIC, is linked to a model of the North American hog‐pork sector. The reduction in Québec inventories, following the implementation of environmental policies, triggers a decrease of Canadian live hog exports to the U.S. and an increase of U.S. pork exports to Canada. Environmental policies are responsible for decreases in welfare. The decrease in welfare is the largest when a moratorium in North America is simulated. Since trade liberalization has a positive impact on welfare, the welfare decrease from a moratorium is somewhat attenuated under free trade conditions.
Cross‐country Differences in Technology: The Case of the Food Processing Industry
Authors: Gopinath Munisamy
Published: July 2005

In this study, cross‐country differences in the food processing industry's technology are investigated. A value‐added function is estimated using panel data comprising of 13 developed countries and the 1975–95 period. Evidence of nonconstant returns to scale and differences in technology across countries is statistically significant. The United States is the leader in terms of the level of total factor productivity followed by Japan, Germany, France and Canada in that order. The growth rates and levels of productivity are inversely related, and the speed of productivity convergence is 2.6% per year. In addition to impacting future growth and international trade analyses, the study has implications for competitiveness of the food processing industry.
The Effects of Various Policy Regimes in the Integration of North American Grain Markets
Authors: Mohanty Samarendu , Langley Suchada
Published: July 2005

This paper examines the integration between U.S. and Canadian grain prices using cointegration and error correction approach. Price relationships are examined in four different subperiods: pre‐NAFTA (January 1986 to December 1993), post‐NAFTA (January 1994 to July 1999), pre‐WGTA (January 1986 to July 1995) and post‐WGTA (August 1995 to July 1999). A free trade agreement implemented in 1989 that later folded into NAFTA affected price integration in the North American grain market, but Canada's elimination of freight subsidies in 1995 strengthened it. Empirical results indicate that longterm relationships exist among the price series. Prices are found to be first‐difference stationary and cointegrated during the four subperiods. However, cointegration analysis shows significant post‐WGTA improvement in market integration, particularly in the speed at which the market adjusts to departures from its long‐run equilibrium.
Assessing Technical Efficiency of Québec Dairy Farms
Authors: Mbaga Msafiri D. , Romain Robert , Larue Bruno , Lebel Luc
Published: July 2005

The purpose of this paper is twofold. Our first objective is to measure the level of technical efficiency of Québec dairy farms. Our second objective is to gauge the robustness of our results with respect to the selection of a functional form and of a distribution for the inefficiency index. We estimate efficiency frontiers for Cobb‐Douglas (C‐D), translogarithmic (TL) and generalized Leontief (GL) production functions with half‐normal, truncated normal and exponential distributions. Our results, based on likelihood dominance criterion (LDC) indicate that the GL production technology dominates the other two functional forms, and this ranking is robust to changes in the distribution of the inefficiency index. Efficiency scores and ranks are highly correlated for all the functional forms and distributions. The differences in the mean levels of efficiency are statistically significant across functional forms and distributions, although the magnitude of the difference is minuscule. The very high mean level of efficiency and the low standard deviation confirms that Québec dairy farms are very homogenous in terms of getting the most from their inputs. This is not surprising, given that the sector has been very stable policywise and that it has been difficult for dairy farmers to expand. To augment the comparisons, results obtained from data envelopment analysis (DEA), are added to the analysis. In this case, the correlation coefficients between DEA and parametric specifications are found to be very low.
Pricing to Market Behavior by Canadian and U.S. Agri‐food Exporters: Evidence from Wheat, Pulse and Apples
Authors: Carew Richard , Florkowski Wojciech J.
Published: July 2005

A fixed‐effects model to control for time variation in marginal costs is employed to pinpoint evidence of price discriminatory behavior of Canadian and U.S. exporters of agri‐food products. We test for evidence of pricing to market behavior and whether price discrimination or commodity/country characteristics may provide a plausible explanation. A distinguishing feature of our approach is to examine the time‐series properties of the data by the conventional augmented Dickey‐Fuller and recently developed panel unit root test. The panel data set employed in this paper consists of annual exchange rates and export prices for three agri‐food products (wheat, pulse and apples) exported by Canada and the U.S. in foreign markets during 1980–98. Our fixed‐effects model suggests that U.S. exporters are sensitive to exchange rate changes, while Canadian exporters in most cases raised price markups in response to a depreciated currency in overseas markets. The results highlight the differences in pricing policy that both countries employ to merchandise agri‐food products in export markets.
Duck Hunting and Wetland Conservation: Compromise or Synergy?
Authors: Bennett Jeff , Whitten Stuart
Published: July 2005

Duck hunting is an issue — often controversial — that generates both benefits and costs to society. Hunters enjoy benefits from engaging in their sport, while those who have ethical concerns regarding the shooting of ducks endure costs. Some in the community fear that duck hunting puts pressure on the continued ecological viability of the hunted species, while others argue that the demand for hunting provides sufficient economic incentive for wetland conservation. Whether society as a whole should permit or restrict duck hunting is to some extent an empirical question: Are the costs to society of allowing duck hunting greater or less than the benefits it generates? Evidence presented in this paper addresses this question. The benefits enjoyed by people who hunt ducks in the upper south east of South Australia are estimated using the travel cost method. The ethical costs borne by the general community because of duck hunting are estimated using the choice modeling technique. Finally a threshold value analysis is used to assess the activities of Wetlands and Wildlife, a not‐for‐profit organization that manages wetlands in part for hunting.
The Economic Value of Soil Quality under Alternative Management in the Canadian Prairies
Authors: Belcher K. W. , Boehm M. M. , Zentner R. P.
Published: July 2005

This paper describes a dynamic simulation model that integrates environmental and economic components of agricultural crop production systems to predict changes in soil quality and the concomitant impact on economic returns. The model is used to simulate crop yield, soil quality and economic performance of a conventional crop rotation and several alternative crop rotations in two contrasting environments in western Canada over a 50‐year period. This information is used to quantify the impact of the crop rotations on soil organic carbon (SOC) and the economic value of on‐site SOC changes. The estimated value of these impacts range from $0.20/t to $2.10/t of SOC/ha/yr.
Evaluating the TRQ Import Licensing Mechanisms in the Canadian Chicken Industry
Authors: Gervais Jean‐Philippe , Surprenant David
Published: July 2005

Tariff rate quotas (TRQs) were introduced at the end of the Uruguay Round to support market access following the tariffication of nontariff barriers to trade in agriculture. The allocation of import licenses under the TRQ regime in the Canadian chicken industry is currently made according to discretionary criteria. The welfare properties of this import licensing scheme are evaluated in comparison with a less discretionary allocation method such as first‐come, first‐served (FCFS) using a numerical model. The analysis also provides a welfare evaluation of both methods as the current minimum access commitment for chicken imports is expanded. It is found that total welfare in the Canadian chicken industry is likely to be higher under a TRQ administration method based on nondiscretionary criteria such as firstcome, first‐served. However, particular assumptions about the chicken producers’response to increased foreign competition can reverse this finding. Moreover the welfare differences between the two license administration schemes are less important when market access to imports is substantial.