bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Participation in Farm Commodity Programs: A Stochastic Dominance Analysis
Authors: Kramer Randall A. , Pope Rulon D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe net benefits of participation in farm commodity programs are analyzed with a normative risk model based on stochastic dominance theory. Utilizing entire probability distributions of participation and nonparticipation net returns, the impacts of alternative program features and farm size are investigated. Small changes in program parameters are found to affect participation decisions. It also is demonstrated that farm size can influence participation choices.
The Potential Role of Multilevel Programming in Agricultural Economics
Authors: Candler Wilfred , Fortuny‐Amat Jose , McCarl Bruce 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper discusses a new class of problem related to mathematical programming but with two separate decision makers in hierarchical relationship, each with his own objective function and control over distinct but interacting variables. The relationship of this problem to agricultural (energy and environmental) policy problems is developed, together with the relationship of this new problem structure to mathematical programming, game theory, control theory, and principal agent theory. Suggested computational approaches are reviewed, along with the solution to two illustrative examples of the use of the technique.
A Carcass Merit Pricing System for the Pork Industry
Authors: Hayenga Marvin L. , Grisdale Barbara S. , Kauffman Robert G. , Cross H. Russell , Christian Lauren L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA small proportion of hogs sold to packers are priced according to their carcass value, and some producers feel that price incentives for lean hogs are inadequate. Pork carcass composition and value relationships were analyzed for a sample of 185 pork carcasses. Carcass weight, back fat thickness, and muscling index accounted for 79% of the variations in carcass value; these factors were incorporated into a standardized payoff matrix providing larger incentives for better carcasses which could be incorporated into individual packer procurement systems.
Landownership and the Adoption of Minimum Tillage
Authors: Lee Linda K. , Stewart William H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFull‐owner operators and landowners with small holdings have lower minimum tillage adoption rates on cultivated cropland than do other landownership groups after accounting for land quality and regional location. Nonfamily corporate structure does not significantly influence the adoption decision. These conclusions about minimum tillage adoption were obtained from a logit model using 7,649 cultivated cropland observations from across the United States. This study indicates that small operating size poses more of an obstacle to minimum tillage adoption than does separation of ownership from farm operation.
A Model of Cooperative Finance
Authors: VanSickle John J. , George W. Ladd 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe unique characteristics of cooperatives require they be analyzed differently from the more traditional noncooperative firm. A model of cooperative finance is developed that has the objective of maximizing the total, after‐tax profits of the cooperative member patrons. A mathematical analysis derives the relationships among the various financial instruments, and a numerical analysis derives results for a cooperative under various hypothesized scenarios. We suggest that a model incorporating the unique characteristics of cooperatives is the more appropriate tool for studying cooperative finance than is the noncooperative model.
Theory of the Firm with Joint Price and Output Risk and a Forward Market
Authors: Grant Dwight 
Published: July 2006

AbstractExpected utility maximizing farmers facing just price risk or both price risk and quantity risk behave similarly in the absence of a forward market. If forward contracting is possible, that is not true because variation in the commodity price affects a farmer's wealth through the value of his futures position, the value of his output and through the covariance between price and output. This covariance affects a farmer's optimal scale of production, his optimal forward position and the interrelationship between the scale of production and forward trading.
Production Risk and Optimal Fertilizer Rates: A Random Coefficient Model
Authors: Smith Joyotee , Umali Gloria 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper demonstrates that low levels of fertilizer use on rainfed rice in the Philippines cannot be attributed to production risk. A random coefficient model estimated the objective probability distribution of yield. This was incorporated into a utility‐maximization framework to predict that moderately risk‐averse farmers would apply only seven to ten kilograms less than the profit‐maximizing N‐rate. Previous studies have established that risk was not a major impediment to fertilizer use in irrigated areas. This paper extends this conclusion to rainfed rice production in the Philippines.
The Structure of Food Demand: Interrelatedness and Duality
Authors: Heien Dale M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents a new empirical demand system which mitigates the effects of multicollinearity while facilitating the measurement of interrelatedness. Duality theory is used to derive the inverse demand functions. Using data on fourteen food items a complete set of demand equations is estimated in both quantity and price dependent forms. The model is used to test for the theoretical restrictions of homogeneity, additivity and negativity, as well as the habit formation hypothesis. A comparison is made between these results and those of Brandow and George and King.
Bee Pollination and Productivity Growth: The Case of Alfalfa
Authors: Olmstead Alan L. , Wooten Donald B. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe spread of commercial pollination has received little attention in the literature analyzing the growth in U.S. agricultural productivity. Between World War I and 1960, growers of most fruits, nuts, and seeds came to realize that intensive bee pollination was essential to achieve high yields. Alfalfa seed growers were among the last groups to adopt commercial pollination. This article examines the dramatic impact that concentrating bees in alfalfa seed fields had on yields, which resulted in the restructuring of the alfalfa industry (the fourth most valuable commodity grown in the United States) in the 1950s.
A Farm Firm Model of Machinery Investment Decisions
Authors: Reid Donald W. , Bradford Garnett L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis article presents a multiperiod mixed integer programming (MMIP) model of optimal machinery decisions. Infinite horizon valuation models of replacement and other investment situations are conceptualized in the context of a finite programming model. Dual properties of the MMIP model are used to identify and value opportunity costs involved in investment decisions of farm machinery. The interdependent nature of investment and production relationships necessary for solving these values emphasizes the importance of a holistic firm perspective in analyzing farm machinery investment strategies. An empirical situation is used to demonstrate model application.
Dynamic Equilibrium in Markets for Perennial Crops
Authors: Knapp Keith C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA dynamic equilibrium model for perennial crop markets is formulated. Price expectations are formed according to perfect foresight, and both the age composition of the crop and the optimal rotation are determined endogenously. The model is applied to the California alfalfa market. The calculated long‐run equilibrium acreage is quite close to average acreage over the base period. The results also exhibit cyclical fluctuations in acreage with a six percent coefficient of variation. Thus, cyclical behavior can arise from technical characteristics of the production process as well as from imperfectly formed expectations or random exogenous shocks.
Measurement of Consumer Gains from Market Stabilization
Authors: Wright Brian D. , Williams Jeffrey C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFor most cases of practical significance in which partial equilibrium analysis is appropriate, there is little difference between exact measures of consumer gains from market stabilization and approximations such as expected change in marshallian or hicksian consumer surplus. Careful specification of the nature of stabilization is more crucial than the choice of welfare measure. It is important to represent correctly the demand curvature and supply response and to determine whether general equilibrium responses can be ignored. In any event, an improved analytical approximation and a simple numerical method for calculating the exact measures make it unnecessary to rely on suspect measures.
The Structure of Constant Elasticity Demand Models
Authors: LaFrance Jeffrey T. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe demand model with constant price and income elasticities has been used extensively in applied agricultural economics. This paper analyzes the structure of incomplete systems of constant elasticity demand functions. It is demonstrated that there is a duality theory for incomplete demand systems that is analogous to the duality theory for complete systems. This theory permits the recovery of that portion of the direct and indirect preferences pertaining to the goods of interest, and we can calculate exact welfare measures for changes in income and in the prices of these goods. For an incomplete system of constant elasticity demands, the Slutsky symmetry restrictions for integrability are presented and the implied structure of the direct and indirect preferences with respect to the prices and goods of interest is derived.
Ranking of Agricultural Economics Departments by Citations
Authors: Beilock Richard P. , Polopolus Leo C. , Correal Mario 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRanking of agricultural economics departments based upon the number of articles or article pages does not take into account the impact or usefulness of these journal articles or other works to the profession. In this paper, an alternative ranking scheme is employed which utilizes citations from a broad array of publications of a department's faculty. Rankings are developed for agricultural economics units at 1862 land grant universities, 1890 land grant universities, independent U.S. universities, and Canadian universities, as well as an overall composite ranking and comparisons with economics departments.
Consumer Demand for Rice Grain Quality and Returns to Research for Quality Improvement in Southeast Asia
Authors: Unnevehr Laurian J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAbundant world rice supply has led to renewed interest in improving grain quality of modem rice varieties. Implicit prices of grain characteristics are estimated for Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These prices are used to evaluate rice‐breeding goals and to estimate returns to research for quality improvement. Results indicate that the past focus on physical quality improvement was appropriate, and future welfare gains are possible from chemical quality improvement. Returns to quality improvement are substantial and indicate underinvestment in this type of research.
Valuing Information When Risk Preferences Are Nonneutral: An Application to Irrigation Scheduling
Authors: Bosch Darrell J. , Eidman Vernon R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA method for valuing information when risk attitudes are nonneutral is presented. The procedure uses simulation and generalized stochastic dominance to value information by level of risk aversion. The value of soil water and weather information to irrigators is quantified to illustrate the procedure. The empirical results show that additional information has diminishing marginal returns for a given level of risk aversion and that the value of information increases with the level of risk aversion. The application demonstrates the importance of valuing information on a whole‐firm basis when returns to information are related to returns of other firm enterprises and risk preferences are nonneutral.
Demonstration of the Use of Lower Partial Moments to Improve Safety‐First Probability Limits
Authors: Atwood Joseph 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA general stochastic inequality is presented which utilizes lower partial moments to generate sharp upper bounds on safety‐first type probabilities. Alternative forms of the inequality often generate less conservative probability bounds than Chebychev's mean‐standard error and Berck and Hihn's mean‐semivariance inequalities. Of particular interest is the linear lower partial moment version which utilizes absolute deviations below a fixed reference point. A constraint is developed which, if enforced in an optimization model, guarantees that safety‐first probability concerns are satisfied while selecting the least constraining level for the reference point.
Marginal Analysis of Welfare Costs of Environmental Policies: The Case of Pesticide Regulation
Authors: Lichtenberg Erik , Parker Douglas D. , Zilberman David 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWe present a methodology for estimating net social welfare costs and their distribution using only information on price, quantities, elasticities of supply and demand, and estimates of cost and/or yield effects of policies provided by natural scientists. An application to a case of pesticide regulation demonstrates the importance of equity effects. Simulations show that redistribution of income among producers becomes the dominant effect of pesticide policies when supply elasticities are higher and demand elasticities are lower, with changes in supply elasticity having a greater impact than changes in demand elasticity. For crops with significant export markets, foreign consumers are shown to bear much of the short‐run cost.
Chance‐Constrained Financing as a Response to Financial Risk
Authors: Atwood Joseph A. , Watts Myles J. , Helmers Glenn A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe results of a recent survey suggest that many decision makers view financial risk in a safety‐first context. Imposing safety‐first chance constraints on potential financial ratios or flows can be difficult with traditional methods. This is particularly true with financial ratios when both the numerator and denominator are random and are affected by endogenous decisions. A model and numerical example are presented which enforce probabilistic or chance constraints upon potential debt/asset ratios in a multiperiod linear program. The model can be easily modified to probabilistically constrain alternative financial performance measures such as current ratios, working ratios, or cash flows.
Food Aid Impacts in Rural Kenya
Authors: Bezuneh Mesfin , Deaton Brady J. , Norton George W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAssessing the potential role of food aid in economic development requires that analytical attention be given to both household production and consumption consequences of food aid projects. Effects of a food‐for‐work (FFW) project in rural Kenya are assessed using a peasant‐household‐firm model which incorporates a linear programming model and an almost ideal demand system. The results indicate that program participants have net returns 52 percent higher than nonparticipants, most of which is due to induced effects of capital formation on own‐farm production. Greater capital formation increases the opportunity cost of participants' time, encouraging a transition over time from FFW activities to greater own‐farm production. FFW increases food demand, employment, and marketable surplus.
Deforestation and Agricultural Productivity in the Côte d'Ivoire
Authors: Ehui Simeon K. , Hertel Thomas W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAn optimal control model is used to determine the optimal steady‐state forest stock in the Côte d'Ivoire. This stock is shown to increase with increases in the forestry returns relative to those in agriculture. Technological progress in agriculture and increases in the social discount rate serve to lower the optimal steady‐state forest stock. Based on an estimated aggregate yield function, the optimal forest stock is shown to be most sensitive to changes in the social rate of discount. Assuming current (1985) technology, deforestation appears socially optimal only for values of the discount rate greater than 8%.
Exchange Rate Uncertainty and the Demand for U.S. Soybeans
Authors: Anderson Margot , Garcia Philip 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis study examines the effects of exchange rate uncertainty on bilateral soybean trade flows and finds that imports for Japan, France, and Spain are sensitive to short‐term variations in nominal bilateral exchange rates. This research extends previous work by focusing on bilateral trade for a single commodity, using a longer sample period, and testing over a variety of model specifications. The results suggest that the effects vary across countries depending on access to forward markets, the availability of alternative soybean suppliers, the degree of market concentration in the domestic soybean processing sector, and the degree of currency risk importers are willing to assume.
The Effects of Suburbanization on Agriculture
Authors: Lopez Rigoberto A. , Adelaja Adesoji O. , Andrews Margaret S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis article conceptualizes the effects of suburban population density and land speculation on agricultural production choices, prices, and profits. A dual profit function model and a system of reduced‐form price equations are used to estimate these effects for New Jersey. Results show that vegetable production is the only subsector to benefit from suburbanization, while livestock is the most adversely affected. Suburbanization reduces responsiveness to agricultural prices and discourages capital and land use. The overall impact on profits is positive when capital gains on land are included. Policy implications for farmland preservation and “right to farm” legislation are discussed.
Choice of Depreciation Methods for Farm Firms
Authors: Musser Wesley N. , Tew Bernard V. , White Fred C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAccelerated depreciation methods are usually considered to increase the present value of after‐tax cash flows for farm firms compared to straight line methods. Review of the theoretical foundations of this conclusion indicates that it requires an assumption of constant marginal income tax rates, which is inappropriate for many farm firms. Numerical analysis of a more general theoretical model and a detailed capital budgeting example both indicate that straight line methods are preferred with income tax rates below maximum levels and/or lower discount rates. General recommendations on depreciation methods are therefore impossible.
Dynamic Analysis of Income Taxes on Farm Firms
Authors: Hardesty Sermin D. , Carman Hoy F. , Moore Charles V. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA dynamic optimization model is used to analyze the effects of tax law changes instituted by the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 on farm firm decision making. The model incorporates the integrated nature of the firm's production, investment, and financing decisions. Because of interactions between tax provisions, the tax changes had the unexpected effect of reducing optimal investment in machinery and land.
On Moral Hazard and Cost Sharing under Sharecropping
Authors: Bardhan Pranab , Singh Nirvikar 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this article we show that when the tenant's input use is not observable by the landlord, there will be cost sharing at the margin (instead of a lump sum transfer) if the standard model is extended to include cases of imperfection and interlinkage of transactions in rural markets, thus making the opportunity cost of inputs different for the landlord and the tenant.
Orderly Marketing for Lemons: Who Benefits?
Authors: Carman Hoy F. , Pick Daniel H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe orderly marketing goal of federal marketing orders may deal with price stability or uniform flow of product to market, a choice which can have important economic implications. This study examines the impact of four fresh lemon marketing strategies on returns at the producer, FOB, and retail levels, together with marketing margins and consumer surplus. Producers, as a group, and consumers should favor a constant price strategy. Some individual producers and middlemen, however, enjoyed higher returns with constant weekly sales. Explanations of the shift in lemon sales patterns which occurred during the 1970s is examined in light of these results.
Planting Flexibility and Land Allocation
Authors: Westcott Paul C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractBreak‐even price relationships between competing crops ate derived to illustrate how planting flexibility alternatives affect planting choices. The primary factor differentiating among flexibility alternatives is whether deficiency payments are linked to planting choices. If they are, target prices, program yields, and, in some cases, acreage reduction programs affect net returns comparisons and crop competition. Deficiency payments may be separated from the planting decision on some land either by removing deficiency payments for the acreage involved or by continuing them regardless of the crop planted. Planting choices then would be based on expected net returns from the marketplace.
Dual Second‐ and Third‐Order Translog Models of Production
Authors: Driscoll Paul J. , Boisvert Richard 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMonte Carlo evidence indicates that translog cost and profit models are generally incapable of accurately characterizing the underlying production technology. In order to discriminate between tracking difficulties caused by truncation of important high‐order terms and errors in variable bias, Monte Carlo experiments are performed with secondand third‐order cost and production models, using data generated with and without measurement error. The results suggest that it is errors in variables bias and not the translog specification, which is largely responsible for the poor tracking performances noted previously.
Animal Stocking under Conditions of Declining Forage Nutrients
Authors: Huffaker Ray G. , Wilen James E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper examines the bioeconomic conditions under which the recently popular intensive‐early‐stocking (IES) strategy outperforms the conventional season‐long‐stocking (SLS) strategy as a response to the deterioration of forage nutrients over the latter stages of the grazing season. The economic performances of the IES and SLS strategies are compared to a dynamically optimal grazing policy that continually fine tunes stocking rates to account for declining forage nutrients. The comparisons yield a range of qualitative properties under which the IES strategy tends to approximate better the optimal strategy, some of which are investigated in a numerical illustration.
Economic Returns to Crop Management Research in a Post‐Green Revolution Setting
Authors: Traxler Greg , Byerlee Derek 
Published: July 2006

AbstractReturns to research studies have neglected research on crop management (CMR), which may account for half of all crop research. Because CMR enhances the efficiency of input use, returns to CMR are hypothesized to increase in settings characterized by high input levels and high yields. A method is developed to estimate returns to CMR, and this method is applied to wheat research in a post‐green revolution setting in northwest Mexico. The results suggest that returns to CMR are positive over a range of model assumptions.
An Analysis of 1980s Dairy Programs and Some Policy Implications
Authors: Bausell Charles W. , Smith Scott L. , Belsley David A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractExcessive government purchases of dairy surpluses during the early 1980s prompted three corrective measures: the Milk Diversion Program, Dairy Termination Program, and lower support prices. An eight‐equation econometric model of the dairy sector simulates these programs and shows them to be incomplete or impermanent in their effects. However, further analysis shows that a more aggressive policy of lower support prices would be effective in reducing costs to government and consumers, and lowering transfers to producers.