bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Nonparametric Approach to Expenditure‐Constrained Profit Maximization
Authors: Färe Rolf , Grosskopf Shawna , Lee Hyunok
Published: July 2006

A nonparametric approach to expenditure‐constrained profit maximization is developed. A deterministic frontier profit function is constructed with and without expenditure constraints. Foregone profit is used as dual evidence for the existence of expenditure constraints. Individual evaluations on performance and expenditure constraints are produced. Empirical analysis is based on survey data for California rice farms. Seventeen of the eighty‐two surveyed farms experience profit loss as a result of expenditure constraints.
Optimal Strategies for Marketing Calves and Yearlings from Rangeland
Authors: Garoian Lee , Mjelde James W. , Conner J. Richard
Published: July 2006

Many of the problems encountered in ranching stem from the uncertainty associated with forage availability and the relatively stable forage requirements of the traditional cow‐calf operation. This results in underutilization of forage during forage surpluses and costly overutilization during shortages. Smaller cow herds combined with the possibility of carrying calves over to the following spring and/or fall allows forage requirements to be manipulated in response to forage availability. Dynamic programming results suggest that smaller cow‐calf‐yearling operations have potential to increase expected net returns over a larger cow‐calf operation.
The Effects of State Farm Relief Legislation on Private Lenders and Borrowers: The Experience of the 1930s
Authors: Rucker Randal R.
Published: July 2006

The effects on private lenders and borrowers of farm relief programs that alter the enforceability of debt contracts are investigated. Evidence from the 1930s indicates that state relief legislation that altered debt contracts to the detriment of lenders substantially reduced the supply of loans and had different effects on different types of private lenders. This past experience suggests that, although such measures as moratoria on farm foreclosures and the recently enacted Chapter 12 bankruptcy law may provide relief for some farmers, they may also result in substantial reductions in the supply of agricultural credit.
Calibration of Option‐Based Probability Assessments in Agricultural Commodity Markets
Authors: Fackler Paul L. , King Robert P.
Published: July 2006

A method for evaluating the reliability of option‐based price probability assessments is developed based on the calibration concept. Empirical tests using goodness‐of‐fit criteria are applied to four agricultural commodities. Results suggest that assessments in the corn and live cattle markets are reliable, but such assessments overstate the volatility of soybean prices and understate the location of hog prices.
Revenue‐Neutral Tax Policies under Price Uncertainty
Authors: Holloway Garth J.
Published: July 2006

The firm's response to revenue‐neutral taxation is investigated under price uncertainty. Revenue‐neutral policies adjust simultaneously the marginal tax rate and the level of exemptions while keeping expected tax receipts constant. Nonincreasing absolute risk aversion is sufficient to sign the firm's response: a reduction in the marginal rate causes the firm to contract output. Implications are established for the equilibrium level of treasury receipts.
Oligopsony Potential in Agriculture: Residual Supply Estimation in California's Processing Tomato Market
Authors: Durham Catherine A. , Sexton Richard J.
Published: July 2006

Farmers' selling opportunities are often limited because of few processor/handlers and costly‐to‐transport raw products. This paper develops an empirical model to analyze the potential for exercise of monopsony power in these food markets. The approach is based on estimation of residual supply functions facing a processor or group of processors. Residual supply is the raw product supply facing a processor or group of processors after rivals' demands for the product have been accounted for. The model is applied to the processing tomato industry in California. Estimation results suggest that the oligopsony potential in this market is limited.
Trading‐Day Variation: Theory and Implications for Monthly Meat Demand
Authors: McNulty Mark S. , Huffman Wallace E.
Published: July 2006

We consider the problem of fitting regression models with data containing trading‐day variation. Multiplicative and additive expressions for trading‐day variation are presented. Multiplicative adjustment is more reasonable than the additive but is also more complex. Expressions are derived for biases which trading‐day variation introduces into least squares estimators. Estimated retail demands for beef, pork, and chicken show the biases are large and in the directions predicted when monthly data are used, but are small when quarterly data are used. Multiplicative adjustment is statistically superior to additive adjustment, although practical differences are small.
The Impacts of Business Cycles on Returns to Farmland Investments
Authors: Bjornson Bruce
Published: July 2006

Expected performance and valuation of investments in farmland are examined in relation to prevailing business cycle conditions over a period that includes both the 1970s farm boom and 1980s farm recession. Information on risk premia in debt, equity, and land markets are shown to significantly affect conditional expected returns to farmland and, consequently, farmland values. Further, conditional expected land returns diverge significantly in some years from returns conditionally required on the basis of systematic risk. Overall implications are that expected land returns are dependent not only on local sector conditions but also on time‐varying macroeconomic conditions related to business cycles.
In‐Kind Export Subsidies for Processed and Bulk Goods
Authors: Paarlberg Philip L.
Published: July 2006

This research analyzes the interaction between a bulk commodity and a processed good under in‐kind export subsidies. An in‐kind export subsidy lowers the export price of the good on which it is paid. The other price changes are ambiguous. A numerical model for U.S. wheat and flour illustrates these conditions. Given the parameters of the model, an in‐kind payment using wheat lowers flour prices and the export price of wheat. The U.S. domestic wheat price rises. When flour is used for the payment, U.S. wheat and flour prices rise, while the foreign flour price falls.
Positive Mathematical Programming
Authors: Howitt Richard E.
Published: July 2006

A method for calibrating models of agricultural production and resource use using nonlinear yield or cost functions is developed. The nonlinear parameters are shown to be implicit in the observed land allocation decisions at a regional or farm level. The method is implemented in three stages and initiated by a constrained linear program. The procedure automatically calibrates the model in terms of output, input use, objective function values and dual values on model constraints. The resulting nonlinear models show smooth responses to parameterization and satisfy the Hicksian conditions for competitive firms.
Capital Market Segmentation and U.S. Farm Real Estate Pricing
Authors: Shiha Amr N. , Chavas Jean‐Paul
Published: July 2006

In this paper we present and test a segmented capital market equilibrium. We extend the traditional CAPM by explicitly considering barriers to the flow of external equity capital into farm real estate markets. The empirical results provide a plausible explanation as to why the traditional arbitrage‐based pricing models fail to explain equity pricing in farmland markets.
Markdown Pricing and Cattle Supply in the Beef Packing Industry
Authors: Stiegert Kyle W. , Azzam Azzeddine , Brorsen B. Wade
Published: July 2006

We determine the effect of anticipated and unanticipated cattle supply on the departure of fed cattle price from cattle's marginal value product. Results indicate fed cattle were priced significantly below their marginal value during 31 of the 59 quarters between 1972II and 1986IV. When unanticipated supply shocks are small, markdown behavior is consistent with the hypothesis that packers follow an average processing cost (APC) pricing rule. One implication of our results is that reducing industry concentration is not likely to lead to changes in cattle prices predicted by SCP‐based studies of the industry.
Informational Content of Government Hogs and Pigs Reports
Authors: Carter Colin A. , Galopin Carl A.
Published: July 2006

We examine the value of the informational content of quarterly government reports which estimate forthcoming supplies of hogs and pigs. It is assumed that a hypothetical futures trader obtains the government reports one day in advance of their release. A futures market trading rule is established which uses early access to the reports together with a priori expectations of the reports' contents. We find the market information in the government reports is of little or no value to a futures trader in advance of the release date because this information is already incorporated in the futures price.
Demand Elasticities from a Discrete Choice Model: The Natural Christmas Tree Market
Authors: Davis George C. , Wohlgenant Michael K.
Published: July 2006

A procedure is demonstrated for estimating market‐level demand elasticities from household data suffering from sample selectivity problems. The procedure uses McFadden's nested multinomial logit model and is applied to the natural Christmas tree market. Results indicate that the own‐price elasticity of natural Christmas trees is −0.674 and the cross price elasticity of natural Christmas trees with respect to artificial Christmas trees is 0.188. These are the first known demand elasticity estimates for the natural Christmas tree market.
Cow Culling Decisions Adapted for Management with CART
Authors: Tronstad Russell , Gum Russell
Published: July 2006

A stochastic dynamic programming (DP) model of range cow culling decisions incorporating market price uncertainties and dynamics of biological productivity was solved for biannual and annual calving systems. Decision trees were generated from the DP solutions using the Classification and Regression Trees (CART) methodology. The decision trees captured over 99% of the optimal DP returns from both biannual and spring‐only calving. CART culling criteria in conjunction with dual‐season calving increased wealth by 7% compared to optimal DP culling decisions with spring‐only calving, and by 10% compared to a more traditional strategy of culling all open cows.
Cost Pooling in Australian Grain Handling: A Common Property Analysis
Authors: Quiggin John , Fisher Brian S. , Peterson Deborah C.
Published: July 2006

The common property analysis of Rausser, Zusman, and Foster is expanded and applied to Australian grain transportation systems. With a conservative decision rule, a statically inefficient cost pooling system may lead to optimal investment decisions as benefits become pooled. With Ramsey pricing in contrast, losers may veto many investment decisions, so that allocations become ‘equitable’ but technically inefficient. Efficiency gains from price policy reform may not be achieved unless accompanied by property right reallocation.
A Further Look at Flexibilities and Elasticities
Authors: Huang Kuo S.
Published: July 2006

Relationships between price elasticities and price flexibilities are examined, with emphasis on comparing sizes of difference between a directly estimated demand matrix and an inverted demand matrix. Results show that by using inverted elasticities to represent flexibilities or vice versa, sizable measurement errors may be committed. In agricultural policy and program analysis, a directly estimated demand matrix should be used.
Economic Factors that Influence Educational Performance in Rural Schools
Authors: Broomhall David E. , Johnson Thomas G.
Published: July 2006

This paper examines the value that young people in rural areas place on education. It employs survey data of over 700 youths in four central Appalachian school districts, OLS regression techniques, and an ordered probit model in a human capital framework. Students who are less willing to move and who have less positive perceptions of local employment opportunities will have less positive attitudes toward education and will perform more poorly in school. Those who are more willing to move place a higher value on education and perceive education as a means of leaving the rural community.
A Decomposition of Total Factor Productivity Growth: The Case of Chinese Agricultural Growth before and after Reforms
Authors: Kalirajan K.P. , Obwona M.B. , Zhao S.
Published: July 2006

Our objective in this paper is to explain a method to decompose the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth into technological progress and changes in technical efficiency within the framework of the varying coefficients frontier production function. An empirical application is demonstrated using the Chinese provincial‐level agricultural data covering the period 1970–87. The results indicate that TFP growth in the prereform period was negative in twenty out of twenty‐eight provinces and that it was positive in almost all provinces during the reform periods, while negative in sixteen out of twenty‐eight provinces in the postreform periods of 1984–87.
Import Quota Licenses and Market Power
Authors: McCorriston Steve
Published: July 2006

Analyses of import quota regimes typically ignore institutional features under which the quota licenses are administered. However, distributing the bulk of import licenses to a small number of firms can create oligopsony power and hence affect the level of quota rent and the potential success of auctioning licenses. In this paper I test formally for this phenomenon in the U.S. dairy import quota regime. Results suggest that the administration of import licenses for cheese creates oligopsony power for U.S. cheese importing firms.
Land Tenure and Allocative Efficiency in Niger
Authors: Gavian Sarah , Fafchamps Marcel
Published: July 2006

Using field‐level data, we investigate whether traditional land tenure systems are an impediment to allocative efficiency in Niger. We find that yields are strongly influenced by the manpower available to farming households, an indication that marginal returns to labor and land are not equalized across households. We uncover no relationship between manuring and whether or not local customs allow land sales. But manuring is influenced by tenure security: farmers who cultivate both borrowed and owned fields divert manure toward the latter. Our findings do not imply that a change in land tenure system is called for.
Contingent Valuation and Social Choice
Authors: McFadden Daniel
Published: July 2006

The contingent valuation method for estimating the existence value of natural resources is examined for psychophysical robustness, statistical reliability, and economic sensibility. Extensions of standard models for willingness‐to‐pay, and suitable econometric techniques for analyzing these models, are developed. The analysis is applied to a series of experiments on the value of preserving wilderness areas in the western United States. The results call into question the reliability of the CV method for estimating existence values.
The Impact of Food Aid on Food Subsidies in Recipient Countries
Authors: Hoffman Wendy L. , Gardner Bruce L. , Just Richard E. , Hueth Brent M.
Published: July 2006

A model in which policy makers maximize a weighted welfare function of producer, consumer, and taxpayer groups is applied to explain the effects of food aid receipts on food policies in the countries receiving food aid. Consumer subsidies for wheat in nine countries receiving food aid are examined during the 1955–83 period. Econometric results indicate food aid increases domestic food subsidies in the recipient countries, but that other factors (development, country‐specific factors) are more important in determining subsidy level.
Evaluating the Linearized Almost Ideal Demand System
Authors: Buse Adolf
Published: July 2006

Linearizing the Almost Ideal Demand System (LAIDS) by recourse to the Stone share weighted price index is common practice. Two issues are addressed here. First, scrutiny of the errors‐in‐variables implications of the linearization reveals that, not only is the SUR estimator inconsistent, but a consistent IV estimator cannot be constructed. Second, some alternatives to the Green‐Alston elasticities specifically designed for the LAIDS model are developed, but neither these nor the Green‐Alston elasticities are found to have any advantages over the conventional elasticity formulae. Some errors in the Green‐Alston (1990) paper are corrected. The inconsistency and elasticity issues are documented by a Monte Carlo investigation.
Environmental Stress and Grain Yields in China
Authors: Huang Jikun , Rozelle Scott
Published: July 2006

After 1984 China's grain production began to stagnate, slowing during a time of continuing expansion of chemical inputs, irrigated area, and high‐yielding rice, wheat, and maize varieties. In this paper we explore the hypothesis that the accumulation of environmental pressures, including erosion, salinization, soil exhaustion, and degradation of the local environment, may be partially responsible for the recent slowdown of grain yields. Using provincial production data from 1975 to 1990, the analysis shows that environmental factors, especially the breakdown of the environment, did contribute to the decline in the rate of increase of yields in China during the late 1980s. Erosion and salinization had a small, negative effect on yields.
Methodology for Agricultural Economists: An Instrumentalist Perspective
Authors: Smith Eldon D.
Published: July 2006

As an instrument for refining judgments of the adequacy of hypothesis validation procedures, neo‐falsificationist methodology has important value. Appeals to principles of rhetoric, metaphysics, and literary criticism obfuscate the logical foundation for judging the evidential basis for validity. Falsificationist and positivist methodology are insufficient to facilitate the processes of systematic critique of theoretical systems in their proper role as functioning means for directing the hypothecation and testing processes. Instrumentalist methodology makes such criticism integral to an ongoing, problem‐focused scientific inquiry process, thereby fostering theoretical and empirical research progressiveness.
Consumer Preferences for Fresh Food Items with Multiple Quality Attributes: Evidence from an Experimental Auction of Pork Chops
Authors: Melton Bryan E. , Huffman Wallace E. , Shogren Jason F. , Fox John A.
Published: July 2006

This study illustrates an application of experimental auction methods, using both experimental economics and experimental design, to evaluate consumer perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP) for fresh pork chops. We test and reject hypotheses that (a) market prices and consumers' WTP are unaffected by the level of attributes embodied in the pork chops, (b) appearance (based on photographs or actual product) and actual taste are equally good sources of consumer information, and (c) consumers are consistent in their preferences for fresh pork attributes. A major conclusion is that predicting consumer demand for fresh pork (or any fresh food) based on appearance without tasting is unproductive.
The Economics of a Public Fund for Environmental Amenities: A Study of CRP Contracts
Authors: Babcock Bruce A. , Lakshminarayan P.G. , Wu JunJie , Zilberman David
Published: July 2006

The problem of targeting CRP purchases to buy environmental amenities under productivity and environmental heterogeneity is considered. Gini coefficients and Lorenz curves are used to measure the effectiveness of spending under alternative targeting criteria. The environmental benefits considered are water erosion, wind erosion, surface water quality, and wildlife habitat. The three alternative targeting criteria examined include purchasing land according to (i) the benefit‐to‐cost ratio, (ii) the level of benefits, and (iii) the level of cost. Results indicate that the degree of variability and correlation determine the extent to which suboptimal targeting achieves a significant portion of available environmental benefits.
Commodity Price Dynamics and Anticipated Shocks
Authors: Lai Ching‐chong , Hu Shih‐wen , Wang Vey
Published: July 2006

In this paper we address the robustness of overshooting hypothesis in agricultural prices. We find that agricultural prices may undershoot their long‐run level if the economy experiences an anticipated monetary shock rather than an unanticipated monetary shock. We also find that agricultural prices definitely display undershooting if the price of manufactures adjusts instantaneously rather than sluggishly.
Dynamic Resource Management: Intertemporal Substitution and Risk Aversion
Authors: Knapp Keith C. , Olson Lars J.
Published: July 2006

We consider resource management with recursive preferences. These generalize expected utility while eliminating some well‐known difficulties. Monotonicity and convergence properties of optimal decision rules are established using lattice programming methods. Empirical applications are rangeland and groundwater management. Decreasing the intertemporal elasticity of substitution implies greater (lower) resource usage with limited (abundant) stocks. This moderates stock evolution and stabilizes consumption. Increasing risk aversion implies the same or reduced usage over the state space. Intertemporal substitution has a substantial effect on the optimal decision rule and a moderate effect on the limiting distribution, while risk aversion has a very small effect.
Farm‐Level Economic Analysis Incorporating Stochastic Environmental Risk Assessment
Authors: Teague Mark L. , Bernardo Daniel J. , Mapp Harry P.
Published: July 2006

A farm‐level risk programming framework is presented which evaluates income/ environmental risk tradeoffs. This framework uses a time‐series of environmental risk indices to incorporate the stochastic, multiattribute characteristics of environmental outcomes associated with agricultural production practices. The model is applied to a representative farm in the Oklahoma Panhandle region of the Central High Plains. Results indicate that expected income is sensitive to nitrate loading restrictions, and relatively less sensitive to pesticide loading restrictions. Results also indicate that prescriptions derived using deterministic environmental risk measures may ignore significant probabilities of exceeding an environmental standard.
Units of Measurement and the Stone Index in Demand System Estimation
Authors: Moschini Giancarlo
Published: July 2006

The Stone index typically used in estimating linear almost ideal demand systems is not invariant to changes in units of measurement, which may seriously affect the approximation properties of the model. A modification to the Stone index, or use of a regular price index instead, are both desirable practices in estimating linear AI models.
Agricultural Export Subsidies and Intermediate Goods Trade
Authors: Paarlberg Philip L.
Published: July 2006

In this paper I examine the effects of export subsidies when a bulk commodity is an intermediate good which is either exported or processed into a higher‐value agricultural good for domestic or export sale. The analysis shows that while the industry producing the subsidized good benefits, the industry producing the other good may not. A bulk commodity export subsidy may lower the price of the higher value agricultural commodity. An export subsidy on the higher‐value agricultural commodity may lower the bulk commodity's price. The outcome depends on the relative excess supply and excess demand elasticities and on the market structure.
Searching for a Model of Multiple‐Site Recreation Demand that Admits Interior and Boundary Solutions
Authors: Morey Edward R. , Waldman Donald , Assane Djeto , Shaw Douglass
Published: July 2006

For most recreation demand data sets, different individuals visit different subsets of the available sites. Interior solutions (i.e, individuals who visit all recreational sites) are not the norm. Boundary solutions (i.e., individuals who do not participate, or who visit some, but not all, of the sites) predominate. We critique eight demand models in terms of their ability to accommodate boundary solutions. Three models are recommended for consideration when there are multiple sites and the data set includes a significant number of boundary solutions: a repeated nested‐logit model, a multinomial share model, and a Kuhn‐Tucker model.
Subjective versus Objective Yield Distributions as Measures of Production Risk
Authors: Smith Joyotee , Mandac Abraham M.
Published: July 2006

Subjective probabilities of farmers with nonlinear utility are estimated from distributions elicited by applying a linear scoring rule with monetary payoffs. Estimated subjective distributions are compared to objective estimates of yield distributions in a risky rainfed rice‐growing area in the Philippines. The results indicate that farmers are knowledgeable about mean nitrogen response, but seriously underestimate year‐to‐year variability in yield response to nitrogen. The implication is that accurately estimated objective distributions can be used to estimate upper limits of the effects of risk aversion on allocative decisions.
Marketing Orders as Nontariff Trade Barriers
Authors: Chambers Robert G. , Pick Daniel H.
Published: July 2006

Previous analysis shows that, under autarky, all groups must lose from minimum quality standards with symmetric information. We find that, with international trade, it is possible for one country to gain by introducing minimum quality standards. However, it is not possible for both countries to gain from the standards. This result implies that minimum‐quality standards are nontariff trade barriers using the Walter and Baldwin criteria.
Maintaining and Testing Separability in Demand Systems
Authors: Moschini Giancarlo , Moro Daniele , Green Richard D.
Published: July 2006

We derive a general elasticity representation of the necessary and sufficient conditions for direct weak separability of the utility function. Parametric restrictions required to implement the separability conditions are presented for three common demand systems: the Almost Ideal, Translog, and Rotterdam. Our empirical application uses the Rotterdam model to test a few separable structures within a complete U.S. demand system emphasizing food commodities. Results, based on size‐corrected likelihood ratio tests, provide support for commonly used separability assumptions about food and meat demand.
Structural Change, Capital Investment and Productivity in the Food Processing Industry
Authors: Morrison Catherine J.
Published: July 2006

Investment in new technology affects structural change and economic performance through its effect on capital and input composition. This is particularly important for capital‐intensive industries such as food processing, which lack short‐run flexibility due to adjustment costs. This study considers the impacts of capital quasi‐fixity on capital and noncapital input decisions made in the U.S. Food and Kindred Products industry from 1965 to 1991. A cost‐based production theory model is used to evaluate investment motivations for three capital components. Productivity growth accompanying changing input patterns is then discussed, focusing on capital and farm input demand.
A Randomized Response Approach to Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation
Authors: Berrens Robert P. , Bohara Alok K. , Kerkvliet Joe
Published: July 2006

In this paper we combine dichotomous choice contingent valuation (DC‐CV) with the randomized response (RR) method for asking sensitive survey questions. RR increases respondents' anonymity by allowing them to answer a sensitive question without revealing, with certainty, their true response. We combine RR with DC‐CV to test for response effects in the valuation of a public good, in a setting of expected social pressure. While there are practical implementation issues, our findings suggest that the RR technique is a useful tool for exploring social context effects. Rather than generalize from our pre‐test results, we instead emphasize the development of the experimental technique.
Nonparametric Tests of Cost Minimizing Behavior: A Study of Indian Farms
Authors: Ray Subhash C. , Bhadra Dipasis
Published: July 2006

We extend existing nonparametric methods of analyzing production efficiency to allow some inputs to be quasi‐fixed. Varian's Weak Axiom of Cost Minimization is modified to derive the Weak Axiom of Variable Cost Minimization. The methodology is applied to farm level data from West Bengal, India, which are analyzed for consistency with cost minimizing behavior. There is strong evidence against overall cost minimization, a result that cannot be rationalized in terms of production uncertainty and risk aversion. However, violation of either technical efficiency or of variable cost minimization is much less serious. This suggests that failure of cost minimization is principally due to imperfections in the markets for capital and land.
Who Works for Piece Rates and Why
Authors: Rubin D. Kate , Perloff Jeffrey M.
Published: July 2006

The decision whether to work on a piece‐rate or time‐rate agricultural job depends on workers' preferences for earnings and nonpecuniary attributes of jobs. These preferences differ geographically and with workers' demographic characteristics, particularly age. Based on estimates that control for sample selectivity, nonpecuniary effects of age dominate earnings effect in most age groups. A substantial share of prime‐age workers do not choose to work in the more lucrative piece‐rate jobs. Indeed, all else the same, prime‐age workers are the least likely among all age groups to work piece rate.
Export Liberalization and Household Welfare: The Case of Rice in Vietnam
Authors: Minot Nicholas , Goletti Francesco
Published: July 2006

Vietnam has rapidly become one of the three largest rice exporters in the world, in spite of a binding export quota. This article uses a multimarket spatial‐equilibrium model to examine the effect of further liberalization on regional rice prices. Household data are then used to calculate the welfare impact of these price changes on different household groups. The results suggest that although rice export liberalization would raise food prices and exacerbate regional inequality, it would also increase average real income and reduce (slightly) the incidence and severity of poverty. We explore several explanations of these apparently paradoxical results.
A Unified Approach to Sensitivity Analysis in Equilibrium Displacement Models
Authors: Davis George C. , Espinoza Maria Cristina
Published: July 2006

In this article a unified approach for doing sensitivity analysis in equilibrium displacement models is presented that extends the existing method and overcomes many of its deficiencies. An empirical example from Gardner's seminal article highlights the advantages of the approach presented here.
Designing and Rating an Area Yield Crop Insurance Contract
Authors: Skees Jerry R. , Black J. Roy , Barnett Barry J.
Published: July 2006

This article documents the design and rate‐making procedures used in the development of the Group Risk Plan (GRP)—the new federal crop insurance product that insures based on area yield. The authors of this article worked closely with personnel in the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and others in developing methodological and practical constraints needed in implementing a workable area yield contract. GRP indemnity payments are made based on percentage shortfalls in actual county yields relative to a forecasted yield. Historical county yield data are used to develop forecasted yields and premium rates.
The Logic of Testing Structural Change in Meat Demand: A Methodological Analysis and Appraisal
Authors: Davis George C.
Published: July 2006

In the past two decades, the profession has expended valuable resources testing structural change in meat demand with mixed results. Overlooked to date is a fundamental methodological problem that transcends all methods of testing for structural change. In this study, a methodological framework is used to show that there is no valid test of structural change. Because of this result, additional criteria from the methodology literature are used to evaluate the literature on structural change in meat demand and to provide suggestions for fertile areas of future research.
Input Demands and Inefficiency in U.S. Agriculture
Authors: O'Donnell Christopher J. , Shumway C. Richard , Ball V. Eldon
Published: July 2006

Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are used to estimate a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) system of input demand functions for U.S. agriculture. Our demand functions have flexible forms and allow for nonrandom technical inefficiency. Concavity constraints are imposed at individual data points, and the distributions of measures of relative technical efficiency are constrained to the unit interval. Results are evaluated in terms of characteristics of the posterior distributions of parameters, measures of relative technical efficiency, and other nonlinear functions of the parameters.
Determinants of Ditch Company Share Prices in the South Platte River Basin
Authors: Goodman D. Jay , Howe Charles W.
Published: July 2006

Ditch companies were formed historically to distribute irrigation water. A portfolio of water rights would be acquired and the resultant water distributed proportionately among the members. Active markets for these shares developed because of their relative homogeneity and ease of transfer. This study identifies the factors that determine share prices, by regressing price on supply‐ and demand‐side variables: characteristics of the underlying water rights, anticipated transfer losses, general factors affecting urban demand, and effects unique to each purchasing city. The major factors are found to be seniority of the underlying water rights, average yields, and transfer losses.
Oligopoly Power in the Food and Tobacco Industries
Authors: Bhuyan Sanjib , Lopez Rigoberto A.
Published: July 2006

In this article we estimate and test for the degree of oligopoly power and economies of scale in forty food and tobacco industries using the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) framework and four‐digit SIC data. Lerner indices and elasticities of scale are compared throughout the entire food and tobacco industries. T‐tests verify that all but three of these industries exert statistically significant degrees of oligopoly power and that over 82% of these industries exhibit nonconstant returns to scale. The empirical results also provide estimates of the price elasticities of demand for each industry.
The Empirical Impact of Bovine Somatotropin on a Group of New York Dairy Farms
Authors: Stefanides Zdenko , Tauer Loren W.
Published: July 2006

Data from a panel of New York Dairy farms were used to estimate bST adoption functions, and to measure the impact of bST on milk output and profitability per cow. Adoption results are consistent with previous ex ante bST adoption studies. Farm size, productivity, and education of the principal operator are the most important explanatory variables influencing adoption. The use of bST was found to significantly increase milk output per cow net of other explanatory variables, correcting for self‐selection with respect to bST use. The impact on profits was, however, not statistically different from zero at any conventional statistical significance level.
Modeling Land Use Decisions with Aggregate Data
Authors: Miller Douglas J. , Plantinga Andrew J.
Published: July 2006

In this article, we develop land use models to study the impact of changes in decision variables on soil erosion or other environmental outcomes. From an underlying behavioral model, we use maximum entropy to recover a parametric model of county‐level land use shares as a function of decision variables such as output prices, input costs, and land quality. The statistical model may be extended to estimate subcounty land use shares and to incorporate data from federal land use surveys. We use the procedure to analyze the impact of changes in livestock inventories on soil erosion rates in three Iowa counties.
Dynamic Model of Fresh Fruit Promotion: A Household Production Approach
Authors: Richards Timothy J.
Published: July 2006

Many studies consider the dynamic effects of commodity promotion on demand, but few derive the theoretical basis for these effects in a model of optimal consumer behavior. This study develops a dynamic household production model of U.S. fresh fruit consumption, which it uses to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising and promotion expenditures by the Washington Apple Commission. Estimates from a dynamic‐dual Generalized Leontief system show direct advertising to be marginally more effective than retail promotion in increasing apple sales, but advertising has positive spillover effects to sales of other fruits, whereas promotion reduces sales of competing products.
Evaluation of Nonmarket Goods: Recovering Unconditional Preferences
Authors: Ebert Udo
Published: July 2006

A new approach is proposed for the evaluation of nonmarket goods, starting from a complete or incomplete (conditional) demand system for market goods which is observable and depends on nonmarket goods. This information is not sufficient to recover the underlying preference ordering of the representative consumer. The central idea is to employ additional marginal willingness to pay functions for the nonmarket goods. Since they can be estimated either together with the demand system or in a separate step they are less arbitrary than the assumptions or hypotheses usually made. If the entire system is (weakly) integrable the underlying ordering and appropriate welfare measures can be derived. In this article I investigate the relationship between conditional and unconditional demand systems, present sufficient conditions for (weak) integrability, and demonstrate the practicability of the procedure proposed by means of three examples.
The Forward‐Looking Competitive Firm under Uncertainty
Authors: Lence Sergio H. , Hayes Dermot J.
Published: July 2006

Under realistic circumstances, forward‐looking risk‐averse firms will produce more than risk‐neutral firms, and a mean‐preserving spread of the price distribution will increase risk‐averse firms' production. These results depend on firms realizing that prices of inputs required for production in subsequent periods are contemporaneously correlated with output prices. This study rationalizes previously unexplained real‐world behavior such as the spreading of sales over time and short‐run production (or storage) at an expected loss. The present findings imply that empirical work should not assume, nor should it find, a monotonic relationship between output and the level of risk or of risk aversion.
Crop Insurance, Acreage Decisions, and Nonpoint‐Source Pollution
Authors: Wu JunJie
Published: July 2006

The redirection of farm policy in the 1996 farm bill has generated much interest in seeking environmentally friendly and economically viable ways to protect farm income. Agricultural insurance has been suggested as such an instrument. This article estimates the effect of crop insurance on crop mix and the resulting change in chemical use in the Central Nebraska Basin. Providing corn insurance will shift land from hay and pasture to corn, which will increase chemical use at the extensive margin. This extensive‐margin effect dominates the effect of crop insurance on the application rate, leading to an increase in total chemical use.
The Economics of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade with an Application to the U.S. Food Processing Industry
Authors: Gopinath Munisamy , Pick Daniel , Vasavada Utpal
Published: July 2006

This article investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment and its relationship to trade in the U.S. food industry. A multinational corporation maximizes profits by choosing between production at home, which is exported, and production in a host country. This introduces the possibility that foreign affiliate sales can substitute and/or complement exports. The empirical framework consists of a four‐equations system with foreign affiliate sales, exports, affiliate employment, and FDI as endogenous variables. The results confirm small substitution between foreign sales and exports, and that the host country's protection policies affect the decision to invest abroad.
The Production Effects of Agricultural Income Support Policies under Uncertainty
Authors: Hennessy David A.
Published: July 2006

This analysis decomposes the production impacts of income support programs into wealth, insurance, and coupling effects. Under the usual assumptions about preferences, the wealth and insurance effects of many support programs increase optimal input levels even for supposedly decoupled programs. If the program is “coupled” in the usual sense, then all three effects often act in the same direction. It is concluded that studies of trade and domestic policy reform in stochastic environments should consider insurance and wealth effects. The derivative conditions required to obtain results are also subjected to scrutiny. Simulations for an Iowa corn producer confirm the comparative statics.
Import Restrictions in the Presence of a Health Risk: An Illustration Using FMD
Authors: Paarlberg Philip L. , Lee John G.
Published: July 2006

We present a simple model linking infection risk from imports to a tariff. The risk causes the exporter of the infected product to face a higher tariff than would otherwise be the case. A numerical example is developed for U.S. beef imports from nations with Foot‐and‐Mouth Disease (FMD). The additional tariffs are sensitive to the specification of risk and the expected magnitude of loss due to an FMD outbreak. For a low risk of importing FMD, the tariffs levied against the exporter of FMD‐infected beef are not prohibitive but become so as the risk or expected output loss rises.
From Hedging to Pure Speculation: A Micro Model of Optimal Futures and Cash Market Positions
Authors: Ward Ronald W. , Fletcher Lehman B.
Published: July 2006

A theoretical model of optimal firm decisions in cash and futures markets that includes both primary product producers and marketing firms is presented. The generalized model of production and marketing decisions under risk is applied to both short and long hedging and speculation. Hedging and speculation are given precise definitions. Speculation exists when a firm's futures position exceeds the 100 percent hedging level or when it does not provide hedging possibilities in conjunction with the cash market position. Comparisons between hedging on futures markets and forward contracting are made. Live beef futures are used to show how transformation costs for nonstorable commodities should be treated in the same manner as storage costs for storable commodities.
Parallel Synthesis of a Library of Benzoxazoles and Benzothiazoles Using Ligand‐Accelerated Copper‐Catalyzed Cyclizations of ortho‐Halobenzanilides
Authors: Evindar Ghotas , Batey Robert A.
Published: July 2006

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.
Addition of CFCl3 to Aromatic Aldehydes under Ultrasonic Irradiation.
Authors: Barkakaty Balaka , Takaguchi Yutaka , Tsuboi Sadao
Published: July 2006

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.
Recent Advances in Cyclopropene Chemistry
Authors: Rubin Michael , Rubina Marina , Gevorgyan Vladimir
Published: July 2006

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.
Characterization of the Fast Dynamics of Protein Amino Acid Side Chains Using NMR Relaxation in Solution
Authors: Igumenova Tatyana I. , Frederick Kendra King , Wang A. Joshua
Published: July 2006

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.
The footprints of history: path dependence in the transformation of property rights in Kenya's Maasailand
Authors: MWANGI ESTHER
Published: July 2006

The recent wave of subdivision of Maasai group ranches is not an isolated event, but rather part of a broader, historical process of transformation in land relations and policy development in Maasailand. Maasai have over time supported land privatization, first by formalizing collective rights in group ranches and more recently by individualizing collective land holdings. Privatization is perceived to be an effective strategy for safeguarding Maasai land claims against appropriation by non-Maasai, the government and elite Maasai. Construction of the Uganda railway in early twentieth century and the subsequent influx of European settlers who were granted individual title to secure their investments are events that began the institutional path of privatization. The persistence and dominance of individualized arrangements regardless of other more optimal property rights options is a result of the dominance of elite interests (supported by state institutions) even as state imposed institutions replaced Maasai customary systems of land allocation.
Agent-Based Modelling of Pedestrian Movements: The Questions That Need to Be Asked and Answered
Authors: Kerridge Jon , Hine Julian , Wigan Marcus
Published: July 2006

Vulnerable road users have steadily attracted increased importance in transport and planning. The behaviour of pedestrian movements (especially in the areas off but adjacent to roads) requires improved tools to address the issues now being raised. Such behaviour and interactions can now be modelled by using a combination of massively parallel processes simulating individual pedestrians, and a series of behaviours of these simulated pedestrians in the interactions with each other and their environment. The PEDFLOW model has been implemented in the parallel processing language Occam as an agent-based evolutionary system, which allows extensive modelling of detailed pedestrian behaviour with minimal complication. The principles and methodology of its development and application are specified.
Emergent Design: A Crosscutting Research Program and Design Curriculum Integrating Architecture and Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Testa Peter , O'Reilly Una-May , Weiser Devyn , Ross Ian
Published: July 2006

We describe a design process, Emergent Design, that draws upon techniques and approaches from the disciplines of computer science and artificial intelligence in addition to architecture. The process focuses on morphology, emphasizing the emergent and adaptive properties of architectural form and complex organizations. Emergent Design explicitly uses software tools that allow the exploration of locally defined, bottom-up emergent spatial systems. We describe our Emergent Design software, inspired by concepts from Artificial Life, that is open-source and written in Java. This software is an integral part of a curriculum to teach Emergent Design that has original content and pedagogical aspects.