bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Economics of Upgrading Seventy‐one Branch Rail Lines in Iowa
Authors: Baumel C. Phillip , Miller John J. , Drinka Thomas P. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractProposed abandonment of branch rail lines in rural areas has stimulated considerable concern over the impact of abandonment on shippers, receivers, and rural communities. The purpose of this paper is to present estimates of the benefits and the costs of upgrading seventy‐one branch rail lines. A benefit‐cost analysis is used to compare the net benefits with the net costs of upgrading the rail lines. Separate models are utilized to estimate the benefits to grain shippers, fertilizer shippers, and shippers and receivers of all other products from upgrading the branch lines. Benefit‐cost ratios are presented for six alternative solutions.
The Effects of Federal Milk Orders on the Economic Performance of U.S. Milk Markets
Authors: Dobson W. D. , Salathe Larry E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractClass I price differentials maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and producers during 1965–75 generated Grade A milk supplies in excess of fluid needs and reserves for the federal order system. As required by specified norms, USDA has adopted federal milk order provisions which reduce pronounced seasonality of milk production and lessen certain types of erratic and extreme price variation. If federal milk orders were eliminated and cooperatives and state agencies were barred from replacing the orders, then fluid milk markets characterized by lower Class I differentials, greater milk price variability, and smaller Grade A milk surpluses might emerge.
Financial Impacts of Government Support Price Programs
Authors: Boehlje Michael , Griffin Steven 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRecent proposals to index government support prices based on the cost of production will have significant differential impacts on farms with different size and financial characteristics. Simulation analyses indicate that since such proposals result in both increased income and decreased risk and thus capitalization rates, land values could increase dramatically with the larger, high‐equity operator best able to pay the higher price for additional land. Furthermore, the guaranteed cash flow from such a program enables the higher equity firm to grow more rapidly in terms of net worth and land ownership as well as exhibit higher levels of family living compared to smaller, highly leveraged firms.
A Quarterly Econometric Model of United States Livestock and Feed Grain Markets and Some of Its Policy Implications
Authors: Arzac Enrique R. , Wilkinson Maurice 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper discusses the structural equations, forecasting properties, dynamic characteristics, and economic policy implications of a quarterly econometric model of U.S. livestock and feedgrain markets. Quarterly, semi‐annual, and annual endogenous variables are incorporated by allowing individual structural equations to be estimated and to enter into the solution of the model with different periodicities. Commodity prices are determined by market equilibrium conditions rather than by autoregressive and other time‐series techniques. Dynamic multipliers give the effect of changes in corn exports, beef imports, government grain stocks, corn yield, consumer income, and the support price for corn on producer and retail prices and acreage planted.
A Multicommodity Analysis of Trade Policy Effects: The Case of Nicaraguan Agriculture
Authors: Fajardo Daniel , McCarl Bruce A. , Thompson Robert L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAgricultural trade policies for a small country are analyzed, using a simple, multicommodity, quadratic programming, agricultural sector model. The policy conditions simulated include (a) quantitative trade restrictions given an uncertain world market, (b) export taxation, and (c) import subsidies. The multicommodity, sectoral‐wide coverage permits analysis of the factor‐product market linkages and enables identification of the distributional consequences.
Market Price Effects of Technological Change on Income Distribution in Semisubsistence Agriculture
Authors: Hayami Yujiro , Herdt Robert W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe impact of a technologically induced rightward shift in the supply function of a commodity grown and partly consumed by semisubsistence farmers is examined. In closed‐economy, free market situations, the distribution of economic gains between consumers and producers depends on the proportional shift of the supply function, proportion of the commodity marketed, and elasticities of demand and supply for the commodity. Differences in adoption and marketable surplus between large and small farmers result in differential benefits, but over a range of parameter values, small farmers gain as much or more than large farmers when supply shifts faster than demand.
Oligopoly Pricing in the World Wheat Market
Authors: Alaouze Chris M. , Watson A. S. , Sturgess N. H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWhen the residual demand curve for wheat facing the United States and Canada shifts to the left, or when the exportable surplus of Australia is large, market‐shares of these duopolists are reduced. Such circumstances lead to the formation of a market‐share triopoly with Australia. The evidence for this proposition is examined and a model of triopoly pricing in the world wheat market is presented. If major exporters continue to be concerned with relative market‐shares, the triopoly will reform, stocks will accumulate, and lower prices will prevail; however, prices will be more variable, and possibly higher, than before 1972/73.
U.S. Agricultural Policy and Gasohol: A Policy Simulation
Authors: Meekhof Ronald L. , Tyner Wallace E. , Holland Forrest D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis research uses a stochastic simulation model to evaluate the implications of alternative gasohol programs for a large segment of the food and agricultural sector‐corn and soybean producers, consumers, and taxpayers. The impacts on corn and soybean prices, production, acreage planted, carryover stocks, exports, and commodity program expenditures are presented. The research findings indicate that alcohol production levels below 2.0 billion gallons do not result in serious dislocations in the agricultural sector. As the level of alcohol production increases and more grain is required, corn prices rise significantly, stocks fall to extremely low levels, exports decline, and government expenditures increase greatly.
Optimal Policies for Marketing Cull Beef Cows
Authors: Yager William A. , Greer R. Clyde , Burt Oscar R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFeeding and marketing strategies for cull beef cows were analyzed by formulating a stochastic dynamic programming model which allowed simultaneous determination of optimal selling time and feeding levels until sale. The state variables were cow weight and monthly price; the latter was estimated statistically as a first‐order autoregressive process with parameters changing monthly. Results for Montana cow prices at Billings suggested substantial gains to feeding healthy cows through the winter instead of immediate sale after fall culling.
Resource Production Under Uncertainty: A Stochastic Control Approach to Timber Harvest Scheduling
Authors: Dixon Bruce L. , Howitt Richard E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMost empirical natural resource management problems are intertemporal optimization problems under uncertainty. The Linear‐Quadratic‐Gaussian (LQG) method derives an approximate stochastic solution to such problems. The error in modeling resource dynamics and error in observing resource stocks are incorporated explicitly into the LQG problem solution. The LQG is outlined briefly and applied to the harvest‐scheduling problem on the Stanislaus National Forest. The importance of knowing management preferences precisely is shown by stochastic simulations. In particular, harvest levels and the cost of a given source of uncertainty are shown to be quite sensitive to the objective function specification.
Farmers' Subjective Probabilities in Northern Thailand: An Elicitation Analysis
Authors: Grisley William , Kellogg Earl D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe ability of agricultural decision makers to formulate logical expectations about the outcome of risky events in crop production and marketing is investigated. Measures of Northern Thailand farmers' perceptions of yield, price, and net income are attempted using an elicitation approach which includes a significant monetary reward. This approach is found to be feasible. The expectations derived are logical and consistent when compared to harvest results and farmers' actual production practices. Farmers' expectations about sources of risk and the correlation of socioeconomic characteristics with expectation accuracy are analyzed.
An Economic Model of Soil Conservation
Authors: McConnell Kenneth E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractBy introducing soil depth and soil loss into a simple model of agricultural production, this paper seeks to determine when the private path of erosion differs from the socially optimal path. Considering the depletion of soil only and abstracting from the environmental disruption caused by erosion, the paper argues that under most institutional arrangements the social and private rates of erosion are the same. The paper concludes that public policy should be directed toward reducing erosion only when it leads to significant pollution externalities.
A Dynamic Plant Location Model: The East Florida Fresh Citrus Packing Industry
Authors: Kilmer Richard L. , Spreen Thomas , Tilley Daniel S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractStatic location models provide a long‐run solution without the adjustments required over time. Dynamic programming allows incorporation of short‐ and long‐run adjustments in the same plant location model. A standard transshipment model with fixed quantities at supply and demand points is integrated with a dynamic program. Results indicate new large packinghouses are (are not) competitive with existing small (large) packinghouses even though (because) existing plants can forego a return on investment for a finite period.
The Impact of Forced Deliveries on Egyptian Agriculture
Authors: de Janvry Alain , Siam Gamal , Gad Osman 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe consequences of terminating the current system of forced deliveries of rice for domestic subsidized consumption in Egypt are analyzed with farm‐level data. Under the conditions prevailing in 1979–81, impact on the marketed surplus would have been negligible due to the existence of free sales beyond quota. Producers would benefit marginally from liberalization, and part of the cost of consumer subsidies would be shifted to the government. The key source of financing consumer subsidies is the defense of rice exports and the continued price wedge between domestic and world prices, not the enforcement of deliveries for domestic consumption.
The Effects of Education in Agriculture: Evidence from Nepal
Authors: Pudasaini Som P. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe impact of education in modernizing and traditional agricultures of Nepal is investigated by utilizing a production function framework. Education is found to have higher payoff to productivity in a modernizing environment than in traditional agriculture. Higher (college) education has a significant role in a modernizing environment but not in the traditional area. While both worker and allocative effects of education contribute positively to agricultural production, allocative effect surpasses worker effect in both environments. However, only the input‐allocation component of the allocative effect is important in traditional areas, while both input‐allocation and input‐selection components are crucial in a modernizing agriculture.
A Rational Distributed Lag Model of Quarterly Live Cattle Prices
Authors: Marsh John M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractQuarterly U.S. feeder cattle and fed cattle prices were estimated within a rational distributed lag framework, utilizing nonstochastic difference equations to minimize problems with specification errors in the disturbance structure. The behavior of certain input and output variables in the beef market explained the price variation in each reduced form equation. The results revealed dynamic stability, with a geometric rational lag structure describing fed cattle prices and a polynomial rational lag structure characterizing feeder cattle prices. These dynamics were found to be better than both static‐serial correlation and purely autoregressive specifications.
Portfolio Theory and the Demand for Futures: The Case of California Cotton
Authors: Berck Peter 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper examines the simultaneous choice of cropping patterns and futures positions. It derives the demand for hedging as a function of the price of a hedge and the crop choice set; it estimates these functions for California cotton farmers. It finds that both the costs of hedging and the opportunity to diversify risk by growing other crops substantially change the optimal hedge for California cotton farmers.
Predicting the Diffusion of Improved Pastures in Uruguay
Authors: Jarvis Lovell S. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractResearch suggests the logistic curve is the characteristic diffusion path for new technologies. Econometric analysis of fertilized grass‐legume pastures in Uruguay indicated that their diffusion during the first years following introduction also followed a logistic path. Some departure from a simple logistic shape was explained by including beef and fertilizer prices within the diffusion framework. Both the rate and limit of diffusion were positively related to changes in the technology's profitability, but the estimated price elasticity of each was low. Extrapolation predicted that a ceiling equal to 12% of Uruguayan pasture area would be reached in 1980.
An Interval Approach to Measuring Decision Maker Preferences
Authors: King Robert P. , Robison Lindon J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA method for constructing interval measurements of decision makers' absolute risk‐aversion functions is presented. Under this new procedure, the form of the absolute risk‐aversion function is not restricted, and the precision of the interval measurement can be determined by the analyst. Interval measurements are used with the criterion of stochastic dominance with respect to a function to order uncertain choices. An empirical test shows that interval measurements exclude preferred choices from consideration less often than do single‐valued utility functions and are more discriminating than first‐ and second‐degree stochastic dominance.
Optimal Allocation of Farm Irrigation Water during Peak Seasons
Authors: Yaron Dan , Dinar Ariel 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe paper presents a system analysis approach to the allocation of scarce water during peak seasons to alternative crops and plots, using soil moisture response functions for the key crops. The system contains a linear programming model intended to maximize the farm's income and a dynamic programming model, which generates new irrigation scheduling activities in response to the shadow prices of water given by linear programming solutions. The “generalized Wolfe” LP algorithm is applied. An application to a cotton farm is presented.
An Economic Analysis of Technology in the Meat Products Industry
Authors: Ball V. Eldon , Chambers Robert G. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA nonhomothetic cost function allowing for variable elasticities of scale and substitution and neutral, as well as factor‐using, technical change is estimated for the meat products industry. Empirical results suggest that over the period 1972–76 this industry was characterized by increasing returns to scale. The nonhomothetic and nonneutral specification implies that returns to scale and the rate of technical progress are significantly affected by factor price changes and the level of output. Higher labor prices lead to greater scale economies and to greater cost reductions through technological advances.
Stochastic Efficiency, Normality, and Sampling Errors in Agricultural Risk Analysis
Authors: Pope Rulon D. , Ziemer Rod F. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper examines the power of tests for efficiency. The relationship between sample size, parameter values, and the family of probability distributions is stressed. Some findings are that the probability of correctly ranking distributions is frequently very low regardless of sample size. It is generally lowest as distributional parameters (such as the means) of the two distributions being compared are of similar magnitudes. Further, the empirical distribution function performs extremely well as compared to maximum likelihood estimators.
The Dynamics of Agriculture Supply: A Reconsideration
Authors: Eckstein Zvi 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents a dynamic rational expectations equilibrium model for a given crop. The dynamic supply equation is derived from the farmer optimization problem; and the equilibrium movements of commodity price, production, and land allocations are solved analytically. It is shown that the observed dynamics of agriculture supply, which are usually explained and measured with the Nerlovian supply response model, can be explained and measured at least as well by the rational expectations equilibrium model. However, interpretation of the results is different, and the paper defines explicitly the dynamic supply elasticities and presents an econometric method for consistent estimators for the parameters.
Planting and Removal Relationships for Perennial Crops: An Application to Cling Peaches
Authors: French Ben C. , King Gordon A. , Minami Dwight D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractSupply response for a perennial crop is influenced by the age composition of existing plant stocks which, in turn, is determined by historical patterns of plantings and removals. This paper develops estimates of functions that relate the planting and removal of cling peach trees to measures of past profitability, potential future production from existing acreage, and structural changes associated with market intervention programs. The analysis also provides indications of useful forms for these functions, patterns of yield variation by age of tree, and the nonlinear relation of removal response to age of tree.
Equivalent Scales, Scale Economies, and Food Stamp Allotments: Estimates from the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey, 1977–78
Authors: Brown Mark G. , Johnson S. R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAllotment and economy‐of‐scale adjustments are important in determining benefit levels for households participating in the Food Stamp Program. Economy‐of‐scale factors adjust levels of benefits based on the sizes of participating households. These economy‐of‐scale factors and the allotment are calculated currently using diet status, income, and household size. This paper shows that food stamp allotments for different household sizes can be determined independent of diet status using standard demand theory and the age‐sex composition of the household. The results indicate that scale adjustments now used are related more to household composition than true economies.
Estimating Substitution and Expansion Effects Using a Profit Function Framework
Authors: Lopez Ramon E. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis study reports a first attempt to derive all the relevant information with respect to the structure of production of an industry using knowledge of only a profit function. Using estimates of a profit function for Canadian agriculture, a procedure to separate substitution and expansion effects for both inputs and outputs was implemented. Information concerning net input and output substitution and complementarity possibilities were obtained. The most important empirical results suggest that the hypothesis of nonjoint production of crop and animal outputs in Canadian agriculture cannot be rejected, and that hired and operator labor are complements rather than substitutes.
Confidence Intervals for Elasticities and Flexibilities from Linear Equations
Authors: Miller Stephen E. , Capps Oral , Wells Gary J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractInformation regarding the precision of elasticity and flexibility estimates from equations linear in original variables is typically missing from empirical studies. A result due to Fieller which allows construction of exact confidence intervals for elasticities and flexibilities from such equations is demonstrated. Exact confidence intervals are not necessarily narrowest at mean levels nor are they symmetric about the point estimates of the elasticities and flexibilities. Empirical examples indicate that exact 95 percent confidence intervals for price flexibilities for food items can be quite wide.
Forward and Futures Contracts as Preharvest Commodity Marketing Instruments
Authors: Nelson Ray D. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractEmpirically significant differences between forward and futures contracts evidence their imperfect substitutability as preharvest marketing instruments. Certain combinations of market conditions make the two types of contracts complementary rather than interchangeable. Forwards and futures differ conceptually because of lumpiness, marking‐to‐market, and basis. Of these differences, basis constitutes the most important factor. Although lumpiness may affect smaller producers, it represents an inconsequential detail for larger traders. In given years, interest income (cost) resulting from futures margin requirements may reach important absolute amounts. Relative to size of basis and price changes, this factor fails to attain a magnitude of practical significance.
Some Econometric Problems in the Measurement of Utility
Authors: Knowles Glenn J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractEconometric problems in the measurement of utility are noted and solutions provided. When lotteries which are used to elicit risk preferences are chained or linked they compound error terms. If a utility index is constructed to estimate the utility function, the estimates will be inefficient and possibly biased. An econometric model that attaches an additive error term to the response of the decision maker and does not require indexing is shown to be a better alternative.
An Econometric Model of Cattle Inventories
Authors: Rucker Randal R. , Burt Oscar R. , LaFrance Jeffrey T. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractDynamic regression equations are estimated for each beef cattle breeding herd and beef cattle inventories at two levels of aggregation, the U.S. and Montana. The analysis for Montana was utilized as a guide for specification of the national equation to reduce the inference problem associated with letting the sample data help specify the model. Rational lags on average price received by farmers for calves and the ratio of fed beef to corn prices at Omaha constitute the primary explanatory variables. The equations perform exceedingly well over the sample period ( 1950–80) and in post‐sample forecasts with the sample truncated back to 1970.
A Dynamic Analysis of Marketing Orders, Voting, and Welfare
Authors: Berck Peter , Perloff Jeffrey M. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper presents a dynamic model of how profit‐maximizing farmers would vote on marketing order rules given that new firms will enter, based on rational expectations (perfect foresight) about the path profits follow. Early entrants make large short‐run gains while, in the long run, marginal firms break even. Welfare analyses under a dynamic model differ substantially from the static analyses normally reported.
Participation in Pest Management Groups
Authors: Rook Sarah P. , Carlson Gerald A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWhen a group of farmers joins together to jointly control pests, usual marginal conditions for optimal input use are modified. A study of North Carolina farmers vealed that farmer participation in pest management groups is significantly affected by the percentages of their acres planted in a time‐competing crop, farm size, group price, extension service subsidies, expected crop yield, and the deviation between individual and group pest control demand levels. A maximum likelihood logit estimation procedure is used.