bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Accuracy of USDA Crop Forecasts
Authors: Gunnelson G. , Dobson W. D. , Pamperin S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAccuracy of USDA crop forecasts increased moderately over the 1929–1970 period. However, USDA's first forecasts of crop production tended to underestimate crop size and the size of year‐to‐year changes in production. USDA also undercompensates for errors in earlier forecasts when developing revised crop forecasts.
A Practical Way to Select an Optimum Farm Plan Under Risk
Authors: Scott John T. , Baker Chester B. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper uses quadratic programming to calculate the variance‐efficient mean income path and associated lower income bounds and suggests a way to select an optimum farm plan under risk based on the farmer's own self‐assessed income‐risk preference function. An empirical example from a Midwest corn‐soybean farm is presented.
A Simulation Model for Evaluating Worldwide Buffer Stocks of Wheat
Authors: Reutlinger Shlomo 
Published: July 2006

AbstractStochastic simulation is advocated for quantifying the impact of alternative buffer stock levels and storage policies on stabilizing world wheat supplies and for estimating the corresponding benefits and losses to the world economy, to the storage operation itself, to consumers, and to producers. Illustrative runs of the model show that stock levels which are optimal in terms of direct costs and benefits are likely to be too low to afford satisfactory levels of stabilization. However, buffer stock programs operated with insurance‐oriented storage rules could provide satisfactory protection against extreme shortfalls in grain supplies at a reasonably low cost.
An Empirical Test of Utility vs. Profit Maximization in Agricultural Production
Authors: Lin William , Dean G. W. , Moore C. V. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractProduction economics literature contains many studies which assume that the producer's goal is to maximize profits. This study tests the hypothesis that Bernoullian and lexicographic utility are more accurate predictors of farmer behavior than profit maximization. Six large California farms were used to test the hypothesis. After‐income tax E‐V (expectation‐variance) boundaries were developed for each farm and utility, and profit maximizing crop plans were determined for each. A goodness‐of‐fit criterion showed that Bernoullian utility formulations provided the greatest accuracy in predicting actual and planned crop patterns, followed by the lexicographic formulation. Profit maximization showed the poorest predictive power.
Man, Physical Resources, and Economic Organization
Authors: Breimyer Harold F. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFormal economics has centered on the combination of resources. Contemporary events force concern for forms of economic organization, inquiry into which must put the human role uppermost. A taxonomy of economic organization contains three systems of production and three of control. The Enlightenment brought freedom of contract as a control system, which fits well with proprietary production in farming but clashes with industrial nonfarm production. The nonfarm economy faces institutional reform, while farming must choose its production‐control pattern. Examination of alternate production and control systems can aid in organizational choice.
The Political Economy of Regional Water Institutions
Authors: Ingram Helen M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWater experts, prominent among them resource economists, typically suggest a unified regional organization as the appropriate institutional approach to an entire range of problems. Yet, the performance of multistate regional organizations has been disappointing. It is argued here that failure of regional institutions to innovate is largely determined by the restraints imposed by political viability. The article describes the political environment of regional organizations and the incentives and disincentives for various interests to associate themselves with regional organizations. Finally, various possible strategies whereby a regional organization can build support are outlined.
Application of Multivariate Probit to a Threshold Model of Grain Dryer Purchasing Decisions
Authors: Hill Lowell , Kau Paul 
Published: July 2006

AbstractPurchase of grain dryers by farmers can be explained using a threshold theory of decision in which a reaction occurs only after the strength of the stimuli increases beyond the farmers' reaction threshold. Estimates of the causal relationships in this dichotomous decision model were obtained by using the probit technique with data from a farmer panel. The results provide an explanation of differences in the number of dryers purchased by farmers in various classes and regions. It also provides a procedure for predicting dryer ownership and purchases of dryers as an aid to forward planning by distributors of drying equipment.
An Approach to Research on Vertical Coordination: The Beef System in Oklahoma
Authors: Purcell Wayne D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAnalysis of selected subsystems of the Oklahoma beef marketing system reveals conflicts and inconsistencies in basic interstage relationships. Such conflicts and inconsistencies block realization of higher degrees of interstage or interlevel coordination. Improvement will require a research orientation which isolates such barriers and estimates their impact on system participants.
Modified Price, Production, and Income Impacts of Food Aid under Market Differentiated Distribution
Authors: Rogers Keith D. , Srivastava Uma K. , Heady Earl O. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractEstimation of negative production impacts of food aid rests heavily on measurement of resulting price changes. Previous studies have assumed an exogenous shift in supply resulting from distribution of the imported commodities but have ignored the income effect on demand. Distribution of food aid commodities to consumers at concessional prices provides an increase in real income and corresponding shift in demand for food. The shift in demand compensates for part of the exogenous shift in supply, reducing the potential impact on domestic prices. Based on market differentiation, the production impact in India is estimated at one tenth of previous estimates.
Inter‐Fiber Competition and the Future of the United States Cotton Industry
Authors: Smith B. , Dardis R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMarkov analysis is employed to investigate the competitive potential of the U. S. cotton fiber industry. Cotton's market share is projected to decline in 17 of the top 20 end uses examined though at a slower rate than in the past. Non‐cellulosic, the major competitor, is projected to capture more than 50 percent of the market in 13 end uses. The results indicate the necessity for concerted action by the cotton industry if it is to recapture or even retain its market share. The long time horizons of many end uses provide time for planning and implementing programs designed to improve cotton's competitive position.
Socioeconomic Behavior of Cattle Ranchers, with Implications for Rural Community Development in the West
Authors: Smith Arthur H. , Martin William E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper extends the argument that cattle ranching and ranchers can be better understood by viewing the ranch resource as generating both production and consumption outputs. It was found that nonmonetary outputs of ranch ownership are the most significant factors in explaining high sale prices of Arizona ranches. Land fundamentalism, rural fundamentalism, and conspicuous consumption/speculative attitudes are the most important of these consumption outputs. The analysis suggests that small town viability and growth in the arid Southwest, and possibly in the West as a whole, may be more likely to occur if rural development policies are not predicated on the economic impact of surrounding ranches.
Fertilizer Response Information and Income Gains: The Case of Potatoes in Peru
Authors: Ryan James G. , Perrin Richard K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractYield response to different levels of fertilizer on various soils is estimated by a generalized response function. Average new income generated by use of optimum levels is estimated at over $800 per hectare. The social gain to Peru is estimated to be as much as $50 million annually.
Modeling and Simulation of the U.S. Economy with Alternative Energy Availabilities
Authors: Penn J. B. , McCarl Bruce A. , Brink Lars , Irwin George D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe acute energy shortages of 1973–74 accentuated the pervasiveness of energy utilization in the U.S. economy and underscored the complexity of the system interrelationships. It was also revealed that little is known about these interrelationships. This article reports on a systems analysis of the short‐run economic effects of alternative situations involving reduced energy availability. The impacts of several different energy availabilities are analyzed. Specifically, the situations considered are a 2% quantity reduction in domestic coal supply, a 1.0 and a 1.5 million barrel per day reduction in crude petroleum imports, and a 10% quantity reduction in natural gas supply.
Impacts of Market‐Share Patterns on Marketing Firm Costs
Authors: Raikes Ronald , Heubrock Arnold 
Published: July 2006

AbstractUniform market‐share patterns have been assumed in specifying cost functions for assembly or delivery operations. A more realistic assumption is that market share decreases with distance from the plant. Procedures for specifying assembly or delivery‐cost functions for alternative linear market‐share patterns and for determining impacts of changes in market‐share patterns on costs and related results are developed and applied in an analysis of anhydrous ammonia retailing. These procedures permit more accurate estimates of cost‐volume relationships and make it possible to address questions about how firms should attempt to achieve volume increases.
A Spatial and Temporal Model of the North American Pork Sector for the Evaluation of Policy Alternatives
Authors: Martin Larry , Zwart Anthony C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA quarterly recursive quadratic programming model of the North American pork sector is constructed to explain spatial and temporal variations in the sector and to evaluate the repercussions of policy changes. The model incorporates econometric supply, demand for consumption and demand for storage equations for Eastern and Western Canada and the United States. It is then run over a forty‐one quarter period to evaluate its ability to simulate the sector. A policy experiment is conducted which assesses a change in tariff policies between Canada and the United States to illustrate the model's application for policy analysis.
Measuring Farmers' Trade‐Offs between Expected Income and Focus‐Loss Income
Authors: Webster J. P. G. , Kennedy J. O. S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFarmers' attitudes to risk are viewed within a focus‐loss framework. Sets of indifference curves are constructed for five farmers who are willing to forgo expected income for increases in a probabilisticly defined minimum income. Each set of curves is compared with the respective farmer's utility function as derived by the modified von Neumann‐Morgenstern method.
School Consolidation in Sparsely Populated Rural Areas: A Separable Programming Approach
Authors: Holland David W. , Baritelle John L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between internal schooling economies and transportation costs with regard to consolidation of rural schools. The consolidation question was conceptualized as a programming problem where the objective was to simultaneously minimize the sum of schooling and transportation costs. Both linear and separable programming models were used. Model solutions indicated that some consolidation of schools in the study area would minimize costs but total cost savings were relatively small.
Education and Allocative Efficiency in U.S. Agriculture
Authors: Khaldi Nabil 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRapid technological change creates production uncertainty with a consequent decline in allocative efficiency; productivity growth appears to augment the comparative advantage of large farms, which alongside rising operator education implies scale economies in the use of information. A method is provided for measuring cost inefficiency due to changes in input mix and failure to produce optimum output which is related to growth in farm size. Statistical results provide support for the hypothesis that education enhances allocative efficiency.
Economic Class as a Measure of Farmers' Welfare
Authors: Larson Donald K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractSpecial tabulations from Internal Revenue Service provide an opportunity for agricultural economists to show that average income of farm operator families distributed by size of farm business receipts gives a misleading indication of the well‐being of farm families. For 1970, the distribution of farm taxpayers by basic income classes varies considerably within, as well as between, farm receipt classes. Thus, a small farm business does not mean that the family has a low income, since many receive income from off‐farm sources.
A Stochastic Policy Simulation of the World Coffee Economy
Authors: Edwards R. , Parikh A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe paper analyzes the structure of the world coffee market and suggests policies that stabilize the export earnings of coffee‐exporting countries. The major cyclical characteristics of the coffee economy may be explained by a simultaneous equation model, which considers the lagged response of supply to price. The most successful policies include the development of rapidly maturing trees and the imposition of a quota on exports, both of which are effective in modifying the long‐run cycle. A buffer stock policy is shown to be effective in eliminating short‐run fluctuations, given sufficient resources.
Application of Dynamic Programming in Markov Chains to the Evaluation of Water Quality in Irrigation
Authors: Yaron D. , Olian A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWith the aid of a dynamic programming model in Markov chains, this paper presents an economic analysis of irrigation with saline water. Results provide guides to optimal irrigation policy. Estimates of the value of water quality in irrigation are derived, and possible applications in water resource development decisions are discussed.
A Sequential Programming Model of Growth and Capital Accumulation of a Farm under Uncertainty
Authors: Yaron D. , Horowitz U. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAdvantages of the sequential approach to making decisions under uncertainty are well known. However, the relatively detailed analysis involved, when applied to empirical problems, faces the “cure of dimensionality.” In 1955 Dantzig offered a model of sequential programming under uncertainty which combined the merits of linear programming and sequential analysis. This paper presents an extension of Dantzig's model intended to reduce the dimensionality difficulty by introducing the distinction between long‐run (primarily investment) and short‐run (current production) planning. This paper also includes treatment of uncertainty in terms of eliminating plans which may lead to severe failures (bankruptcy) at any sequentially conceiveable state over the planning horizon.
Reliability of Using the Mean Absolute Deviation to Derive Efficient E,V Farm Plans
Authors: Thomson K. J. , Hazell P. B. R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA linear programming approximation using the mean absolute deviation can be used to derive efficient E,V farm plans when a suitable quadratic programming computer code is not available. This note reports a Monte Carlo simulation study designed to test the accuracy of this method, and concludes that it is more reliable than previously thought.
Recent Changes in Beef Grades: Issues and Analysis of the Yield Grade Requirement
Authors: Purcell Wayne D. , Nelson Kenneth E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe recent change in beef grades has stimulated discussion and opposition. Changes designed to improve the efficiency of the beef‐marketing system are being opposed by groups who adopt a micro perspective. The move to required yield grading continues to draw opposition. Analysis of original data from 118 beef carcasses and data from published studies indicates trimming procedures on fabricated cuts are important determinants of the change in cutability across yield grades. Research designed to investigate the implications of different trimming procedures is needed to clarify the applicability of yield grades.
An Economic Evaluation of Alternative Peanut Policies
Authors: Nieuwoudt W. L. , Bullock J. B. , Mathia G. A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThree alternatives to the current peanut‐price support, acreage‐allotment program are considered. A linear programming framework is used to compare the effects of these policies on geographic location of peanut production, producer and consumer surplus, treasury costs, and value of allotments. Peanut production would expand in all areas except Texas under less restrictive production constraints. The largest expansion would be in Georgia and Alabama. Some version of the target price plan is considered to be a likely compromise program.
A Model of Consumer Goods Characteristics
Authors: Ladd George W. , Suvannunt Veraphol 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper derives and tests two hypotheses concerning characteristics of purchased consumer goods. One hypothesis states retail price paid is a weighted linear combination of a product's yields of characteristics, each weight being a marginal implicit price of a characteristic. The second hypothesis expresses consumer demand for a product as a function of income, product prices, and product's yields of characteristics. Statistical results are consistent with the hypotheses. One model used in this paper is the consumer goods counterpart to the model used by Ladd and Martin in studying prices and demands for input characteristics.
A Neoclassical Analysis of the U. S. Farm Sector, 1948–1970
Authors: Rosine John , Helmberger Peter 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe impacts of major exogenous forces on the farm sector are measured using a seven equation model. Annual estimates of the parameters of an aggregate Cobb‐Douglas production function are obtained by using relative market shares. First order conditions for four groups of inputs are derived. Time series and ordinary least squares are used to estimate the supply for farm labor and the demand for farm output. Technological change, exogenous price changes, and population growth are the major exogenous influences. Roughly 90 percent of farm program benefits have accrued to landowners.
On Sources of Measured Technical Efficiency: The Impact of Information
Authors: Müller Jürgen 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe concept of technical efficiency differences—different levels of output with identical levels of input—is unsatisfactory from a production theoretic point of view. In this paper a model is developed in which differences in non‐conventional inputs and especially information obtained by managers may explain productivity differences between firms. Estimation of the underlying production structure (of a sample of California dairy farms) via a modified non‐homothetic Cobb‐Douglas production function shows the specific impact of information within the neoclassical production framework. This is conceptually and analytically superior to the methodology of frontier production functions.
Institutional Affiliation of Authors of Contributions to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics—1953–1972
Authors: Holland David W. , Redman John C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractContributions to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics were tabulated for the periods 1953–1962, 1963–1967, and 1968–1972. Institutional juxtaposition through time for both invited and noninvited articles was observed. Rankings by subject category were provided for the most recent five‐year period.
An Investigation of the Importance of Risk in Farmers' Decisions
Authors: Just Richard E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents an empirical investigation of the importance of risk in decisions. The adaptive expectations geometric lag model is generalized by geometrically including quadratic lag terms indicative of risk. The computation of consistent estimators is described, and the model is applied in the analysis of California field‐crop supply response. Results indicate that the effects of stabilization (possibly associated with government programs) might have seriously offset the acreage‐reducing effects of voluntary acreage restrictions. Finally, more general implications relating to reduced‐form estimation of the standard Nerlovian model are discussed.
A Utility Approach to the Valuation of Recreational and Aesthetic Experiences
Authors: Sinden J. A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA method for valuing extra‐market benefits is proposed and tested. The method rests on the empirical derivation of utility functions and indifference maps. Demand schedules were obtained from the indifference maps to provide specific benefit values. The method is compared to the conventional travel‐cost method for valuing recreational benefits. It is argued that the utility approach is cenceptually superior. Also, the utility data comprised both the benefit values from the indifference maps and direct survey responses as surrogates for utility. These data proved better predictors of consumption than the usual travel‐cost variables.
Wheat Acreage Supply Response under Changing Farm Programs
Authors: Morzuch B. J. , Weaver R. D. , Helmberger P. G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractPlanted wheat acreage supply elasticities are estimated for each of several leading wheat‐producing states. Estimates of elasticities for the aggregate of these states are 0.77, 0.45, and 0.52 for spring wheat, winter wheat, and all wheat, respectively, but there is considerable heterogeneity among states. Acreage allotments and marketing quotas appear to have destroyed the role of prices in allocating acreage between wheat and other crops during the years 1950 and 1954–64. Estimates were obtained using multiple regression analysis of time‐series data for the period 1948–74. This period was subdivided in order to take account of changing farm programs.
Approximately Optimal Carryover Levels for Wheat in the United States
Authors: Taylor C. Robert , Talpaz Hovav 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents results of stochastic simulations of adherence to a first‐period first‐order certainty equivalence decision rule for approximately optimal wheat stocks in the United States. The decision rule is obtained by maximizing a first‐order approximation of the discounted sum of expected producers' plus consumers' surplus less storage costs over a long‐time horizon. For comparative purposes, stochastic simulations of the present system for holding stocks are also given in the paper. Stock levels under the present system were found to be higher than the certainty equivalence stock levels.
Economic Performance and Energy Intensiveness on Organic and Conventional Farms in the Corn Belt: A Preliminary Comparison
Authors: Klepper Robert , Lockeretz William , Commoner Barry , Gertler Michael , Fast Sarah , O'Leary Daniel , Blobaum Roger 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRecent energy and environmental problems in U.S. agriculture have stimulated interest in alternative technologies or systems of agricultural production. Large‐scale, mechanized organic farms that use little or no inorganic fertilizers or chemical pesticides may be one such alternative. The crop production on fourteen matched pairs of organic and conventional Corn Belt farms was studied to determine the relative value of crop output, net returns, energy intensiveness, and labor requirements. The results of this preliminary study suggest that organic farming warrants more intensive research.