bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Value, Cost, and Efficiency of American Food Aid
Authors: Pinstrup‐Andersen Per , Tweeten Luther G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractTheoretical frameworks were developed to estimate the value to recipient countries of food aid relative to untied cash aid, the cost to the donor country, and the social gain realized by channeling surplus productive capacity in the agricultural sector into food aid rather than reducing production. On the basis of these frameworks, the value, cost, and social gains associated with U. S. food aid during 1964–1966 were estimated. The value to recipient countries of food was estimated to be 80 percent of its world market value. The present value of repayments, interest payments, and transportation costs payable by food aid recipient countries was found to exceed the actual value of food aid under the prevailing dollar credit programs. Hence, a net transfer of resources from developing countries to the United States was found to occur. The cost to the United States of maintaining food aid programs during 1964–1966 was estimated to be approximately equal to the cost of reducing production by a similar amount, using voluntary land retirement programs. It was found that evaluation and pricing of U. S. food aid on the basis of the prevailing export prices results in a considerable overstatement of the actual value to the recipient countries and causes unduly high repayment obligations.
Stochastic Programming, Utility, and Sequential Decision Problems in Farm Management
Authors: Rae Allan N. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents a further development of discrete stochastic programming, viewed within the context of Bayesian decision theory. Some probability models and information structures (with and without additional information) are discussed, followed by an indication of how the stochastic programming matrix may be set up to reflect the various information structures. Some expected utility theories are then reviewed, and their usefulness in allowing the specification of a wide variety of objective functions for the stochastic programming model is illustrated. Lastly, a method is presented for determining the money value of additional information, additional resources, and the expected cost of uncertainty.
Time Horizon, Objective Function, and Uncertainty in a Multiperiod Model of Firm Growth
Authors: Boussard Jean‐Marc 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe growing literature pertaining to multiperiod programming models of farm growth raises three problems that are ordinarily solved with makeshift solutions: the duration of time to be included within the planning horizon; the arbitrage between present and future consumption; and the introduction of uncertainty. The connections between these questions are shown. The net worth of the firm at the end of the planning horizon is maximized under the constraint of a linear consumption function. In this case it is possible to use the turnpike theorem and some additional theorems on separability of matrices to derive a simple rule for deciding on the appropriate length of planning horizon. The introduction of uncertainty shortens the practical planning horizon defined according to this rule.
The Impact of Managerial Ability and Capital Structure on Growth of the Farm Firm
Authors: Patrick George F. , Eisgruber Ludwig M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA simulation model of farm firm behavior in a dynamic environment with elements of uncertainty was developed. The decision maker's formulation of expectations regarding future prices and yields, his selection of alternative farm plans, evaluation of the expected outcomes of the plans with respect to four goals, and implementation of the plan offering the highest level of overall satisfaction are explicitly considered. The expectations, goals, and resource position of the firm are adjusted to reflect the outcome of the particular plan implemented, and the process is repeated for the next year. A case was simulated for a period of 20 years under three different levels of managerial ability and 27 different capital market structures. It is concluded that managerial ability and long‐term loan limits are the major factors, among those considered, influencing farm firm growth.
Credit in the Production Organization of the Firm
Authors: Baker C. B. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIt is argued that the equilibrium conditions traditionally used by economists must be modified to provide criteria for optima useful to the firm. Important modifications are associated with liquidity attributes of the firm organization. Credit, defined as borrowing capacity, constitutes an important source of liquidity. Accordingly, borrowing generates a cost from loss of liquidity as well as from interest charges on loans. Modifications are suggested in the relevant optimizing criteria relating to the firm to account for liquidity losses associated with borrowing. Finally, the modifications are reflected in models and observational techniques suggested to make the conceptual notions operationally useful.
The Long‐Run Efficiency of United States Sugar Policy
Authors: Bates Thomas H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe adequacy of future sugar availabilities for United States consumption requirements since the 1960 embargo on Cuban sugar is a matter of continuing concern. This article gives estimates of the long‐run effects of this embargo on the world and the United States sugar economies as well as of the efficiency of current United States long‐run sugar supply policy. Long‐run supply and demand functions were estimated and a general equilibrium competitive model was constructed. Comparison of the results of this competitive model with projected results of the present United States sugar supply program demonstrates the potential economic inefficiencies of the program.
Quadratic Programming Solution of Competitive Equilibrium for U.S. Agriculture
Authors: Hall Harry H. , Heady Earl O. , Plessner Yakir 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA quadratic programming model is applied to the solution of a competitive equilibrium for the field‐crops sectors of U.S. agriculture. The analysis is based on nine spatially separated markets, with separate demand functions for six commodities in each. The objective of the programming model is to maximize net profits ( total revenue minus production costs, land rents, and transportation costs) derived from satisfying the endogenously determined demand in the various markets. This objective is subject to the constraints on land availability, demand functions, and the competitive equilibrium condition that product price not exceed marginal cost. The empirical results are consistent in the sense that programmed equilibrium prices are considerably lower than actual prices in the base year, 1965. Even under equilibrium at relatively low prices, surplus land is indicated in the Southeastern and Great Plains states. The results suggest the potential for various policy applications, including the analysis of potential short‐run prices in the presence or absence of “free market” equilibrium.
Transfer Restrictions and Misallocations of Irrigation Water
Authors: Gardner B. Delworth , Fullerton Herbert H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe hypothesis of the study is that allowing intercompany transfers of irrigation water would significantly increase the marginal value product of water. Regression analysis was used to explain a time series of rental prices for an area in Utah where four companies freely exchanged water after a long period during which only intracompany transfers were permitted. Water delivered per irrigated acre and type of transfer policy in use were the statistically significant variables and explained 89 percent of the variance in rental price. Covariance analysis indicated that the greater flexibility in transfer increased the real price of water per acre‐foot by $1.84.
Efficiency of Resource Allocation in Indian Agriculture
Authors: Sahota Gian S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis study presents an analysis of resource allocation in Indian agriculture. Production functions are fitted to pooled data. Average and marginal productivity differences are derived for a number of inputs in the production of different crops, across different regions, and over various farm sizes. The results, on the whole, do not lead to the rejection of the hypothesis that there are comparatively few inefficiencies in resource allocation in Indian agriculture.
Projections of Age Distribution of Farm Operators in the United States Based upon Estimates of the Present Value of Income
Authors: Chennareddy Venkareddy , Johnson Glenn L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe increase in the average age of farm operators in the United States since 1920 is pronounced. Several studies have been made of the age of farm operators and have projected the age distribution of farm operators in 1970. This article is based on the premise that the acquisition cost of labor of the agricultural industry for younger workers and the corresponding salvage value for older workers partially determine movements into and out of farming. Present values of future income streams for hired laborers at 25 and 45 years of age in farming and in four nonfarm occupations are estimated and used in constructing an independent variable in the farm operator supply models. Projection of the age distribution of farm operators in 1970 suggests that increases in the average age of farm operators will continue and that this trend will be more pronounced than anticipated in earlier studies.
On Benefit—Cost Analysis of Investment in Schooling in Rural Farm Areas
Authors: Gisser Micha 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe effect of additional schooling on economic productivity of human agents working on farms is estimated. The cost of schooling is measured by estimating the direct cost of schooling and income foregone while attending school. A model of the farm labor market is constructed. Schooling appears as a predetermined variable in the supply and demand functions of the model. The empirical results of fitting cross‐sectional data to a reduced equation in which the farm wage rate is a dependent variable are utilized in order to obtain an estimate of the pecuniary benefit of schooling. The benefit—cost ratio of schooling in farm areas is computed to be 2.37. This result suggests that comprehensive rural development in the less‐developed countries should strike a balance between investment in schooling and tangible capital.
An Evaluation of the Disincentive Effect Caused by P. L. 480 Shipments
Authors: Seevers Gary L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractChanges in foodgrain prices and domestic output caused by changing the quantity of U. S. Public Law 480 shipments to a hypothetical country show that both prices and output are highly sensitive to elasticities of supply and demand. But for many cases examined, changes in these shipments had relatively insignificant price—output effects and these could have been offset by a modest growth in population. Estimates of parameters for India indicate that a 20‐percent increase in the quantity of foodgrain shipments between 1956–57 and 1961–62, other things being equal, would have decreased foodgrain prices 1.6 percent and domestic foodgrain output 0.4 percent. These disincentives may be outweighed by the effects on consumption, income distribution, and resource allocation, suggesting that, overall, the effects of P. L. 480 shipments are beneficial.
Export Quotas and Allocative Efficiency under Market Instability
Authors: Ricardo Ffrench‐Davis M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn a stable environment the existence of economic distortions leads to the use of taxes and subsidies rather than of quotas. The purpose of this article is to explore whether the existence of market instability can change that conclusion. In the case of fluctuations originating in domestic supply, export quotas will tend to destabilize domestic consumer prices and, whenever demand elasticities are low, will increase fluctuations in farmers' income. On the other hand, the case of instability originating in foreign markets is more favorable for quotas. In a free trade situation, all the external price instability carries over to the internal market. A quota scheme, on the contrary, stops instability at the country's frontiers. It is when markets are unstable, then, and instability is concentrated in external markets, that we find an argument for quotas. However, it has to be shown that quotas reduce price and income fluctuations in a degree that more than compensates for the reduction of export returns resulting from the introduction of quotas.
Monopolistic Cocoa Pricing
Authors: Behrman Jere R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAlthough attempts to introduce international regulation as a device to benefit cocoa producing countries have failed in the past five years, considerable pressure remains to try again. In this study, estimates are formed of the probable changes in some of the relevant variables if an international monopolistic cocoa pricing agreement were implemented. On the basis of new estimates of cocoa supply and demand relations, effects of the hypothetical institution of discriminatory monopolistic pricing in 1964 are examined. Such an agreement would have resulted in marginal, although possibly important, additions to the leading cocoa producing countries' command over external resources; but stock accumulation or surplus disposal problems might have been troublesome, and long‐run supplies would have increased substantially unless producers were effectively isolated from the world market.
Technological Change and Internal Economies in Railroad Transport: Some Implications for the Great Plains
Authors: Felton John Richard 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe failure of the railroads in recent decades to maintain either their relative position among the transportation industries or their absolute capital investment does not necessarily presage a continuing withdrawal of resources from the industry. Not only do reported rates of return generally understate the actual rates, but also recent innovations have improved expectations with respect to the future. The unit train, which has both improved service and markedly reduced costs per ton‐mile, is of special relevance to a region heavily dependent upon the exportation of grain to distant markets. Furthermore, owing to the comparatively low traffic density of the railroads traversing the Great Plains, the merger of parallel routes would also appear to promise operating economies to an extent not realizable in other sections of the country.
Market Power and Its Sources in the Food Industry
Authors: Brandow G. E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMarket power is defined in terms of a firm's ability to affect directly other participants in the market or such market variables as prices and promotion practices. The article distinguishes between short‐run and long‐run power and between offensive and defensive power. More than a dozen sources of power are identified in the food industry. Some of the things commonly regarded as manifestations of market power are unreliable indicators of it. In particular, higher‐than‐average profits and market power do not necessarily go together.
Gash‐Futures Price Relationships for Live Beef Cattle
Authors: Ehrich R. L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe objectives of this study, all pertaining to pricing efficiency, were: (1) to develop a theory of cash‐futures price relationships for beef cattle; (2) to measure the factors that have affected cash‐futures price relationships during the three years of trade in live‐beef‐cattle futures; and (3) to provide a framework for evaluating the efficiency of futures markets and hedging in the pricing of feeder cattle. Three types of evidence are employed to attain these objectives. First, the principles of cash‐futures price behavior derived from observation of long‐established futures markets serve as points of departure, while consideration is given to certain fundamental differences that arise from contrasting commodity characteristics. Second, empirical results relating to supply and demand for feeder cattle are employed to define expected relationships between futures prices and prices of feeder cattle of various weights. Third, data generated by the beef cattle futures market itself are analyzed, although it is recognized that these data cover only a short time period and are therefore of limited usefulness.
The Allocation of Research, Teaching, and Extension Personnel in U.S. Colleges of Agriculture
Authors: Peterson Willis L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to inventory the allocation of research, teaching, and extension personnel by departments in United States colleges of agriculture and experiment stations, and to identify and measure factors that appear to influence this allocation. Although growth is the predominate characteristic of departments and disciplines, we observe and can predict decline in several instances. With the use of multiple regression analysis, state nonfarm income emerges as the most important variable explaining total funds available to experiment stations. Rural farm population has virtually no effect on total funds available. In fact, since 1960 it was somewhat of a detriment for an agricultural experiment station to be located in an agricultural state. At the departmental level, the departments engaged in farm oriented research (agronomy, animal husbandry, etc.) appear to be more dependent on farm income for support whereas departments in closer contact with the nonfarm sector (horticulture, agricultural economics, etc.) are more dependent on nonfarm income. Predictions for the early 1970's indicate largest growth for departments located in the high income, urban‐industrial states particularly for those more closely tied to nonfarm income.
A Comparison of the Determinants of Wool Production in the Six Leading Producing Countries: 1949–1965
Authors: Witherell William H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn this study, a general model of seasonal wool production is developed, based on the assumptions of (1) a lagged adjustment of actual to desired output, and (2) “naive” or “static” price expectations. The results of fitting this model to data from six major wool‐producing countries for the seasons 1948–49 to 1964–65 indicate that wool production responds fairly weakly to economic factors and then only after a substantial lag. The estimates obtained of short‐ and long‐run elasticities of wool production with respect to wool prices and the prices of the joint product, lamb, and the substitute products, wheat and beef, are all quite low. Australian wool production is found to be affected positively by fertilizer usage, and rainfall is found to be an important factor for wool production in Australia, South Africa and Argentina
Posterior canal wall reconstruction with a composite cartilage titanium mesh graft in canal wall down tympanoplasty and revision surgery for radical cavities
Authors: Sudhoff H , Brors D , Al-Lawati A , Gimenez E , Dazert S , Hildmann H 
Published: July 2006

Objectives: To investigate posterior external ear canal wall reconstruction with a composite cartilage titanium mesh graft in canal wall down tympanoplasty and revision surgery for open mastoids.Study design: Retrospective case review.Setting: Tertiary referral centre.Methods: As a preliminary study, 15 selected patients underwent reconstruction of a posterior ear canal wall defect with titanium mesh. Large defects of the posterior external auditory canal wall, resulting from canal wall down tympanoplasty or present in revision surgery, were eliminated by reconstruction using a titanium mesh. The mesh was covered with conchal cartilage and attached to the cortical mastoid bone using 3-mm titanium screws.Results: All patients maintained a normal contour of the external ear canal, without depression, extrusion or infection. There were no failures, based on short-term post-operative controls. However, two procedures had to be revised due to incomplete coverage of the titanium mesh.Conclusions: This study shows that reconstruction of the posterior ear canal wall with a composite cartilage titanium mesh is a valuable method for preserving the morphology of the external auditory canal in selected cases. Problems occurring in canal wall down tympanomastoidectomy and radical cavities may therefore be avoided. However, long-term results have yet to be evaluated.
A midline nasopharyngeal heterotopic neuroglial tissue
Authors: Al-Ammar A Y , Al Noumas H S , Alqahtani M 
Published: July 2006

Glial heterotopia is a rare disorder. However, it must be considered in the differential diagnosis of airway obstruction in the newborn. Differentiation of this lesion from nasal glioma and encephalocele is important.In this paper we report a midline glial heterotopia, which presented with upper airway obstruction in a newborn. The origin of a glial heterotopia from the midline of the nasopharynx has not been reported before.We present a review of the literature and discuss the clinical, radiological and pathological features of nasopharyngeal brain heterotopia in an infant.
Spinal accessory nerve function after neck dissections
Authors: Orhan K S , Demirel T , Baslo B , Orhan E K , Yücel E A , Güldiken Y , Değer K 
Published: July 2006

The aim of this study was to evaluate spinal accessory nerve function after functional neck dissection (FND) and radical neck dissection (RND) by monitoring the nerve with electromyographic (EMG) examinations. A prospective, double-blind, clinical study was undertaken in 21 patients (42 neck side dissections) operated on for head and neck malignant diseases, separated into two groups: 10 neck sides in the RND group and 32 neck sides in the FND group. Electromyographic examinations were performed pre-operatively and post-operatively in the third week and third and ninth months. Additionally, a questionnaire, modified from the neck dissection impairment index, was applied to all the patients in order to assess shoulder function in the ninth post-operative month.All patients had maximum EMG scores pre-operatively. Following the operation, motor amplitudes decreased in both groups. At the third post-operative month, amplitudes decreased to their lowest values. As expected, the decreases in amplitude and EMG score were more prominent in the RND group. Following reinnervation, the amplitudes of the trapezius motor response increased in the FND group but never reached pre-operative values (during the time of follow up). The FND group scores for pain, neck and shoulder stiffness, and disability in heavy object lifting, light object lifting and reaching overhead were significantly lower than those of the RND group.In FND, one aims to preserve anatomically the spinal accessory nerve, and it is presumed to be intact after the procedure. However, using EMG nerve function monitoring, our study revealed that profound spinal nerve injury was detected immediately after FND surgery, which tended to improve over subsequent months but had not regained its original function by the end of the ninth post-operative month.