bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Research Payoff from Quality Improvement: The Case of Protein in Australian Wheat
Authors: Voon Thomas J. , Edwards Geoff W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA model is developed for evaluating the size and distribution of the economic benefits from research that improves the quality of an export commodity. Quality improvement, achieved by research or by agronomic practices, shifts the domestic and/or excess demand curves for an export commodity. Research costs are not modeled, but any shift in the supply curve (due to a change in yield, for example) accompanying the quality improvement is included. The model is used to estimate the gains from research that increases protein content in Australian wheat. It is estimated that Australia has the potential to obtain net benefits up to A$@@‐@@53 million per year from a one percentage point increase in the protein content in wheat. Over 90% of these gains accrue to wheat producers.
The Dietary Impacts of the School Breakfast Program
Authors: Devaney Barbara , Fraker Thomas 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis study examines the dietary impacts of the School Breakfast Program based on twenty‐four‐hour dietary recall data collected during the 1980–81 school year. An important finding is that program availability has no significant relationship with the likelihood of eating breakfast, suggesting that a major program policy objective—to provide a breakfast to children who would not otherwise eat one—is not being achieved. Principal findings from the nutrient intake analysis are: (a) calcium intake, both at breakfast and over twenty‐four hours, is positively related to program participation; (b) participation in the program is associated with lower intakes of cholesterol, both at breakfast and over twenty‐four hours; and (c) iron intake at breakfast is negatively related to program participation.
Asset Fixity and Investment Asymmetry in Agriculture
Authors: Nelson Carl H. , Braden John B. , Roh Jae‐Sun 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFixed asset theory implies that it is more difficult to dispose of capital specific to agricultural production than to add to the stock of specialized capital. This theory is tested by determining whether transitions between states of disinvestment are as likely as transitions between states of investment. Of the twenty‐four annual capital stock series analyzed, evidence of asymmetry between investment and disinvestment is strong in eight cases, weak in four, and insignificant in twelve. There is considerable, although mixed, evidence of asymmetry for tractors (farm and nonfarm) and other specialized vehicles since World War II and for agricultural machinery.
Rent Seeking: The Potash Dispute between Canada and the United States
Authors: Picketts Valerie J. , Schmitz Andrew , Schmitz Troy G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractDespite the Canada‐United States Free Trade Agreement, border disputes involving agricultural trade are common. A theoretical basis for the 1987 U.S. countervailing duty case against Canadian exports of potash is developed using excess capacity arguments. Empirically, within a rent‐seeking context, the U.S. potash producers gained far less from their legal action against Canada than did U.S. farmers who are significant users of Canadian potash.
Technical Change, Land Quality, and Income Distribution: A General Equilibrium Analysis
Authors: Coxhead Ian A. , Warr Peter G. , Crawford John 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper investigates the distributional effects of technical progress in agriculture. A small computable general equilibrium model is developed in which agricultural production occurs in two environments with fixed land resources of different quality. The analytical structure permits not only the rate but also the factor biases of technical change to differ between environments. Distributional results are generated for several classes of households distinguished both by their ownership of factors and by their consumption patterns. The results demonstrate that technical change produces distributional outcomes which are highly sensitive to its factor biases and to prior differences in land quality.
Private Property Rights and Forest Preservation in Karnataka Western Ghats, India
Authors: Bhat M. G. , Huffaker R. G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAreca nut orchard owners have been mulching their orchards with foliage from surrounding government‐owned deciduous forests at an average rate that may well deplete foliage within a decade, thereby endangering the long‐term viability of the region's most profitable agricultural enterprise. A bioeconomic model of areca nut production is formulated to determine the circumstances under which privatization of forest resources in the hands of orchard owners will stem this rapid depletion. An empirical application suggests that foliage is not currently sufficiently abundant to survive privatization; however, the prospects for preservation can be increased with the imposition of a preprivatization period of regulated use.
Incorporating Technological Change in Diffusion Models
Authors: Knudson Mary K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe theoretical and empirical implications of a static and dynamic logistic diffusion model are compared. The dynamic model relaxes some assumptions of the static model by allowing for a flexible adoption ceiling, for changes in the technology, and for disadoption. Both models were used to estimate the diffusion of semi‐dwarf wheat varieties in the United States. The dynamic model provides a better fit to the data and provides additional insights into the economic determinants of adoption. In particular, the importance of technological change in other areas (here, in fertilizer) on the diffusion path of an innovation was shown.
Incorporating Stochastic Variables in Crop Response Models: Implications for Fertilization Decisions
Authors: Dai Qi , Fletcher Jerald J. , Lee John G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMost crop‐decision models focus on output variation in response to nonstochastic inputs. Little attention has been given to the effects of stochastic factors on the input‐use decision. A crop‐decision model is developed to examine the impact of soil moisture on the nitrogen fertilization decision. The model is applied to 15 different soil and weather conditions for corn production in Indiana. Based on estimated response functions, the profit maximizing nitrogen application rate varies from 156 to 185 pounds of actual nitrogen (N) per acre. We evaluate the expected economic losses arising from applying to one set of conditions a rate deemed optimal for another.
An Animated Instructional Module for Teaching Production Economics With 3‐D Graphics
Authors: Debertin David L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAn animated instructional module is described for illustrating key production economics concepts. The module uses three‐dimensional production surfaces and two‐dimensional contour maps. Two graphics programs are used together to construct diagrams that neither program could produce alone. Module sequences are based on the “classical” two‐factor, one‐output model, using a production function consistent with textbook diagrams. Although primarily for upper‐division undergraduate or beginning graduate production economics courses, the instructional module provides a useful instructional supplement for advanced students. A free disk copy of the module for use on a personal computer is available from the author.
Procreation, Fishing, and Hunting: Renewable Resources and Dynamic Planar Systems
Authors: Nerlove Marc 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMany problems in the economics of renewable resources can be put in the form of a dynamic planar system. This paper provides analytic and graphical methods for the study of the global dynamics, existence of stationary points, and local stability properties of such systems, and applies these methods to problems of (1) population and environmental quality; (2) exploitation of a stock of fish; and (3) the economics of the pleistocene extinctions and the origins of agriculture.
A Conjectural Variations Model of Reduced Japanese Milk Price Supports
Authors: Suzuki Nobuhiro , Lenz John E. , Forker Olan D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractConjectural variations are estimated to determine the degree of imperfection in the Japanese milk market. Estimated conjectural variations indicate that the Japanese milk market is imperfectly competitive but is becoming more competitive. Our comparative static analysis indicates that when the milk support price is reduced, the fluid milk price will decline less under the current imperfectly competitive structure than it would under a competitive structure.
Productive and Predatory Public Policies: Research Expenditures and Producer Subsidies in Agriculture
Authors: de Gorter Harry , Nielson David J. , Rausser Gordon C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractGovernments are postulated to maximize a political preference function in choosing two policy instruments: research expenditures (a productive policy) that improve social welfare and production subsidies (a predatory policy) that incur deadweight losses. Each policy affects the distribution of income between producers and consumers. Governments determine the optimal mix of policies, taking into account interaction effects between research and subsidy expenditures. In addition to providing an explanation for underinvestment in research, the paper determines conditions under which research and subsidy policies are complementary. Such conditions are shown to characterize U.S. agriculture. Underinvestment in research is therefore less severe than in some other countries.
Cholesterol Information and Shell Egg Consumption
Authors: Brown Deborah J. , Schrader Lee F. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractU.S. per capita shell egg consumption has declined steadily since 1955 despite a falling real price. This paper investigates how information about cholesterol, as measured by a newly constructed index based on medical journal articles, has affected U.S. demand for shell eggs. The results of a fixed coefficient model indicate that information on the links between cholesterol and heart disease had decreased per capita shell egg consumption by 16% to 25% by the first quarter of 1987. A simple changing coefficient model indicates that cholesterol information has changed shell eggs' own price and income elasticities, so that the 1955–87 falling egg price and rising income increased egg consumption less than they otherwise would have.
Valuing Trade‐Offs between Net Returns and Stewardship Practices: The Case of Soil Conservation in Saskatchewan
Authors: Van Kooten G. C. , Weisensel Ward P. , Chinthammit Duangdao 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this paper, a trade‐off function between net returns and soil quality is developed for farmers in southwestern Saskatchewan using a Markov decision model. The results show that farmers who are concerned with soil levels or stewardship employ chem‐fallow more often at lower soil moisture levels and also tend to crop more intensively to conserve soil. The major conclusion is that concern for soil quality, as documented by some researchers, does have practical significance in changing agronomic practices; but, when soil is relatively deep, it takes a fairly substantial concern about soil quality before it is possible to distinguish clearly the agricultural practices of farmers who are truly concerned with stewardship from those who are not.
Risk Analysis of Tillage Alternatives with Government Programs
Authors: Williams Jeffery R. , Llewelyn Richard V. , Barnaby G. Art 
Published: July 2006

AbstractStochastic dominance analysis of two tillage systems, conventional tillage and no‐tillage, for five crop rotations, wheat‐fallow, grain sorghum‐fallow, continuous wheat, continuous grain sorghum, and wheat‐grain sorghum‐fallow, shows that risk‐averse managers prefer a conventional tillage wheat‐sorghum‐fallow system. Small changes in production costs or yields lead to indifference between this system and the no‐tillage wheat‐sorghum‐fallow and no‐till and conventional wheat‐fallow systems. Participation in the basic government commodity program generally increases average net returns and lowers variation of returns. Government commodity program payments calculated under a variety of scenarios do not generally encourage the use of no‐till practices for grain sorghum and wheat in the central Great Plains.
Economies Education in a Workshop Setting: Agricultural Business Plan Training in an Emerging Democracy and Market Economy
Authors: Miller Bill R. , Bahn H.M. , Drygas M. , Rust C.H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWorkshop education in business planning is one of the most important tools of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Business planning progressed from a “buzz word” among Polish Extension advisors in 1991 to more than 50,000 business plans completed by the end of 1994. An interactive workshop, transferrable to any transition economy, allowed participants to enter a workshop with data and prior experience in a command economy and emerge with a plan to implement in a market economy.
Supply and Demand Factors for Organic Produce
Authors: Park Timothy A. , Lohr Luanne 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAlthough the organic produce industry is growing dramatically, little is known about market structure. We estimate a system of reduced‐form equations to evaluate supply and demand factors that influence equilibrium farm price and quantity in wholesale markets for organic broccoli, carrots, and lettuce. In the long run, demand factors dominate supply factors. Reduced wholesaling costs, increased margins by which organic wholesale price exceeds nonorganic price, and higher consumer income stimulate both farm price and output. Increasing the nonorganic farm price decreases equilibrium quantity of organics. Market expansion strategies should target consumers and wholesalers.
Measuring Effective Protection as a Superlative Index Number: An Application to European Agriculture
Authors: Bureau Jean‐Christophe , Kalaitzandonakes Nicholas G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this study duality and the theory of superlative index numbers are used to obtain a theoretically consistent Effective Protection Rate (EPR) index that imposes no a priori restrictions on input‐output substitution possibilities. Within this framework, EPRs are estimated for European agriculture over the period 1973 to 1989. The empirical results demonstrate that maintaining zero input/output substitutability—a restriction embedded in all common protection measures—can lead to false results about the level of protection both across countries and time.
Separability and the Shadow Value of Leisure Time
Authors: Larson Douglas M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRecreation choices are often viewed as short‐run decisions conditioned on longer‐run labor supply. Using weak separability to reflect this relationship, the wage rate is the shadow value of time for individuals who get no utility from work, whether or not they are observed to be trading time for money in the short run. This result widens the circumstances under which the wage rate (not some fraction thereof) is the theoretically correct shadow value of time. Modifications to such a conclusion are developed for cases in which work is a source of utility and in which the first‐stage choice is not continuous.
Propensity to Consume Farm Family Disposable Income from Separate Sources
Authors: Carriker Gordon L. , Langemeier Michael R. , Schroeder Ted C. , Featherstone Allen M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFarm family disposable income is generated from farm operations, off‐farm sources, and government payments. If these three income components are fungible (a dollar from one source is a perfect substitute for a dollar from another source), then the propensities to consume each should be the same. This study examines the farm family propensity to consume from separate income sources. Results indicate that the propensity to consume off‐farm income and government payments is higher than the propensity to consume farm income.
Cost Functions Under Production Uncertainty
Authors: Pope Rulon D. , Chavas Jean‐Paul 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWe characterize the cost functions which would be consistent with expected utility maximization when production is uncertain. It is not generally possible, assuming risk aversion, to use only expected output as the constraint in a cost minimization problem. In some leading cases, cost functions consistent with expected utility maximization are particularly useful because they are devoid of risk preferences.
The Lease‐Purchase Decision for Agricultural Assets
Authors: Ford Stephen A. , Musser Wesley N. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe decision to lease or purchase an asset is analyzed with methodology adapted from the corporate finance literature. The methodology allows determination of a break‐even lease payment using a minimum of information. Symmetry between the lessee and lessor is also examined. Effects of changes in the discount rate, marginal tax rate, capital rationing, and other parameters on break‐even lease payments are examined analytically and numerically. Analysis of differences in the parameters of the lessee and lessor identifies conditions under which markets for leasing arrangements will exist.
Imputing Input Characteristic Values from Optimal Commercial Breed or Variety Choice Decisions
Authors: Melton Bryan E. , Colette W. Arden , Willham Richard L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractPrevious Input Characteristics Models (ICMs) are modified and extended to allow the economic values of individual genetic characteristics to be imputed, even when those characteristics are acquired in largely inseparable bundles such as in the animal breed or plant variety decision of commercial producers. Through analysis of the commercial breed selection decision for a representative beef producer, the extended ICM is shown to generally be more flexible, with less restrictive data requirements for estimation, than prior ICMs. Additional modifications of the extended ICM method of analysis are suggested to further enhance and broaden its applicability.
Model Choice in Consumer Analysis: Taiwan, 1970–89
Authors: Lee Jonq‐Ying , Brown Mark G. , Seale James L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractExpenditure data were used to study how income and prices influenced consumer demand in Taiwan during the last decade. Alternative differential demand models combining the features of the Rotterdam model and the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) were tested. AIDS‐type demand responses describe Taiwanese consumer behavior better than do the other specifications.
Sampling and Aggregation Issues in Random Utility Model Estimation
Authors: Feather Peter M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMeasurement of nonmarket values often involves subjective judgments. Since these judgments may influence results, they should be carefully considered. I focus on an aspect of subjective choice relating to the estimation of random utility models. Such models require specification of each recreationalist's choice set. Whether an individual perceives his choice set as composed of all possible alternatives, a few popular alternatives, or collections of spatially aggregated alternatives is an important judgment affecting the conclusions.
Selling Import Quota Licenses: The U.S. Cheese Case
Authors: McCorriston Steve , Sheldon Ian M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRecent discussions on U.S. trade policies suggest that import quotas should be auctioned to ensure the U.S. Treasury acquires the quota rent. However, studies estimating the potential benefits have ignored important details of import quota regimes and have assumed perfect competition and no exporter retaliation. We explore these three issues with an application to the U.S. cheese import quota regime. We show that when features of the U.S. dairy quota regime and structure of the cheese processing sector are accounted for, likely quota rents and potential welfare consequences of selling import licenses change significantly. While quota license sales may raise Treasury receipts, they may also cause a net welfare loss.
A Shadow‐Price Frontier Measurement of Profit Efficiency in Chinese Agriculture
Authors: Wang Jirong , Wailes Eric J. , Cramer Gail L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA shadow‐price profit frontier model is developed to examine production efficiency of Chinese farm households. The model incorporates price distortions but retains the advantages of stochastic frontier properties. The shadow prices and shadow profit are derived through a behavioral profit function. Empirical results using household survey data show that the conventional assumption of profit maximization based on market prices is inappropriate. Farmers' resource endowment and education influence their allocative efficiency. Family size, per capita net income, and family members operating as village leaders are positively related to households' production efficiency. Reducing market distortions should increase farm households' production efficiency.
Safety‐First Criteria and Their Measures of Risk
Authors: Bigman David 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA cardinal measure of risk which represents the safety‐first criteria is defined. The functional form of that measure is determined for a subgroup of risk‐averse agents that do not have money illusion. An empirical illustration of possible applications of that measure shows a method of identifying the subgroup of agents for which a given alternative dominates the others—in a group of risky alternatives when none of these alternatives dominates any of the others according to the first and the second criteria of stochastic dominance.
An Allais Measure of Production Sector Waste Due to Quotas
Authors: Fulginiti Lilyan E. , Perrin Richard K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this paper we adapt a partial equilibrium approach of Allais and Diewert to measure the efficiency loss in the producing sector due to quotas. The measure of waste is the additional profits available by reallocation subject to constraints that the welfare of persons and firms outside the sector is unaffected. It is relevant to a sector which faces fixed prices for some commodities, but endogenous prices for others. Tobacco quotas in the United States are estimated to have caused quota‐induced producer sector waste of approximately $@@‐@@95 million per year during 1950–82, or about 3% of the average value of the crop.
Estimating Dynamic Dual Models under Nonstatic Expectations
Authors: Luh Yir‐Hueih , Stefanou Spiro E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this paper we derive a system of equations depicting agents' dynamic decision rules under nonstatic price expectations. Based on the adjustment cost model of the firm, the integrability conditions which can serve to guide the specification of flexible functional forms are established. A two‐stage econometric model permitting empirical examination of both the expectations formation process and the dynamic structure of the industry is estimated using two different data series for U.S. production agriculture. The estimation results suggest evidence of the presence of nonstatic price expectations in dynamic dual models for U.S. production agriculture.
Household Demand in Rural China: A Two‐Stage LES‐AIDS Model
Authors: Fan Shenggen , Wailes Eric J. , Cramer Gail L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA complete demand system of Chinese rural households is estimated using a two‐stage LES‐AIDS model and pooled provincial and time‐series data from 1982 to 1990. For commodity groups (food, clothing, fuel, housing, and other commodities), demand is price‐inelastic. Housing and other commodities are luxury goods, while clothing and food are necessities. Within the food group, price elasticities range from −0.005 to −0.63. Expenditure elasticities are lower for grains and higher for meat, tobacco, and alcohol. The results imply a gap between food demand and supply growth. Therefore, China will face pressure to import food.