bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Australian Wheat Policy 1948–79: A Welfare Evaluation
Authors: Longworth John W. , Knopke Philip 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAustralian wheat policy has remained relatively unaltered for thirty‐one years. This paper evaluates its major effects on wheat growers, taxpayers, wheat users, and others. Conventional Marshallian policy analysis was augmented with production and price uncertainty. When policy gains and losses were expressed in net terminal values as of 1979, wheat users gained $‐1,122 million, wheat growers lost $‐995 million, taxpayers contributed $‐1,009 million, and the net social welfare loss was $‐882 million. For growers, the interrelationship between production uncertainty and policy was unfavorable and much larger than the favorable price uncertainty/wheat policy interaction.
Relative Prices and Money: A Vector Autoregression on Brazilian Data
Authors: Bessler David A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRecent data on Brazilian agricultural prices, industrial prices, and money supply are analyzed in a vector autoregression. The empirical findings show strong, one‐way, Granger‐type causality from money supply to agricultural prices; while feedback is observed between industrial prices and money supply. Under the usual monetarist ordering of contemporaneous innovation covariance, agricultural prices do not adjust faster than industrial prices to a shock in the money supply.
Evaluating Price Enhancement by Processing Cooperatives
Authors: Wills Robert L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractSection 2 of the Capper‐Volstead Act requires the secretary of agriculture to determine whether a cooperative has unduly enhanced its prices. There has been no consensus about what level of price enhancement is too high. This paper contrasts pricing of cooperative and proprietary brands of differentiated food products. Empirical evidence indicates that market share and advertising do not generally provide cooperatives any more power to enhance prices than they give proprietary firms. The paper suggests a standard for undue price enhancement, the predicted price level of proprietary brands in similarly structured markets.
Nonpecuniary Job Preferences and Welfare Losses among Migrant Agricultural Workers
Authors: Dunn L. F. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractEffects of nonprovision of job benefits and desirable working conditions are examined empirically for a sample of Mexican‐American and illegal alien migrant agricultural workers. Welfare losses are identified in that the monetary value to workers of some absent benefits is greater than the cost to farm employers of providing the benefits. Workers' preferences for nonpecuniary benefits are also examined by socioeconomic characteristics. Illegal aliens exhibit equal or greater preference for fourteen of the fifteen nonpecuniary items under consideration.
A Consideration in Estimating “Almost Nonsimultaneous” Market Models
Authors: Binkley James K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractFeedback effects in markets with simultaneously determined variables create problems for OLS estimation. When only a component of a market is modeled, feedbacks are weakened. If the component is small enough, the model may become “almost nonsimultaneous,” and most researchers then consider OLS as generally acceptable. However, even without strong feedbacks, equilibrium market behavior may nonetheless create the same estimation problems as in the larger simultaneous model. This can arise when behavior in the component markets represents similar responses to factors in the overall market. Then the criterion of market size in selecting an estimation technique may be insufficient.
Steady‐State Solutions to Soil Salinity Optimization Problems
Authors: Knapp Keith C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper is concerned with the profit‐maximizing choice of water quantities given the choice of crop and water quality but taking into account the dynamics of salt accumulation over time. The optimization model formulated in this paper is based on a detailed representation of the salt transport process in soils but assumes known or average rainfall levels. Optimal water quantities and soil salinities in steady state were calculated for navel oranges in two areas of California. Water applications sufficient to maintain maximum yields were found to be optimal in many cases.
Measuring Stochastic Technology: The Case of Tulare Milk Production
Authors: Antle J. M. , Goodger W. J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe flexible moment‐based approach to production analysis is used to measure the stochastic structure of large‐scale dairy production in Tulare County, California. This approach is flexible because it does not impose restrictions on the relationships between decision variables and the moments of the probability distribution of output. The parameter estimates support the hypothesis that second and third moments are functions of inputs and indicate that capital‐intensive dairies are riskier. The implied behavior of a risk‐averse dairy manager changed markedly when the effects of inputs on the skewness of the output distribution were included in a decision model.
European Community Enlargement and World Trade in Fruits and Vegetables
Authors: Sarris Alexander H. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWorld trade models for the product classes fresh fruits, dried fruits, processed fruits, fresh vegetables, and processed vegetables are estimated and used to project the impact on export prices and trade patterns likely to arise after the European Economic Community enlargement with Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The results indicate that current world trends in import demands and export supplies if continued, and in the absence of enlargement, will cause marked declines of export prices for four of the above product categories (except dried fruits). The enlargement will not significantly modify these price projections, but it will divert a significant part of European Community imports of these products to the three new member countries.
Market Integration: An Application to International Trade in Cotton
Authors: Monke Eric , Petzel Todd 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAgricultural commodities are differentiated frequently by quality or country of origin. This paper proposes two complementary tests—bivariate price regressions and hedonic index estimation—as methods to identify whether differentiated products are amenable to treatment as a homogenous commodity. These price linkage tests represent necessary, rather than sufficient, conditions for aggregation and must be supplemented by information on market structure. Analysis of the international cotton market suggests a distinction between extra long and other staple lengths, but not by country of origin after controlling for staple length.
Output, Input, and Productivity Measurement in U.S. Agriculture 1948–79
Authors: Ball V. Eldon 
Published: July 2006

AbstractTornqvist‐Theil indexes of outputs and inputs are constructed. These data are used to construct indexes of productivity growth over the postwar period. The productivity indexes can be derived from a flexible multioutput‐multifactor representation of the structure of production constrained to constant returns to scale. Total factor productivity grew at an average annual rate of 1.75%, compared with 1.70% per year estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The similar estimates of productivity growth overshadow some important differences in measurement of individual inputs.
Pricing Efficiency in Centralized and Noncentralized Markets
Authors: Buccola Steven T. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractPricing efficiency in centralized markets is compared with that in noncentralized markets. On the basis of a price formation model, centrally discovered prices are hypothesized to adjust more slowly to equilibrium, but to have lower unpredictable variability, than noncentrally discovered prices. These hypotheses are borne out strongly in market experiments. Mean‐squared error is found to be lower in centralized than in noncentralized trading, suggesting centralized markets are the more price efficient.
Methods of Estimating the Input Coefficients for Linear Programming Models
Authors: Ray Subhash C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn order to apply the linear programming method to determine the most profitable product mix of a farm, it is often necessary to estimate the input coefficients from sample data. The estimated coefficients must all be nonnegative. Estimates from regression models of input demand equations are not always nonnegative. The sample average of inputs used per acre of various crops provides nonnegative estimates but may suffer from selectivity bias. In this study the methods of minimizing the mean of absolute deviations and of minimizing the maximum absolute deviation are discussed as alternatives to inequality‐constrained least squares.
Import Substitution for Livestock Feed the Caribbean Community
Authors: Charles Clifton , Blandford David , Boisvert Richard N. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper evaluates the economic feasibility of substituting domestically produced corn and soya for imports in the Caribbean Community. A linear programming model is used to minimize the costs of meeting feed demands under free trade and two self‐sufficiency scenarios. Special emphasis is given to the availability of land suitable for feed production, domestic production costs relative to import costs, and the implications for employment and the balance of payments. The model also identifies optimal quotas or tariffs to achieve self‐sufficiency.
The Economic Feasibility of Crop Residues as Auxiliary Fuel in Coal‐Fired Power Plants
Authors: English Burton C. , Short Cameron , Heady Earl O. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractRising fossil fuel costs spark interest in crop residues as a renewable energy source. Residue costs for combustion in power plants are estimated in 1975 prices to evaluate their feasibility. Costs are estimated for farm production, transportation, and processing and handling at the energy recovery level. They are incorporated into an Iowa agricultural programming model which includes an electric utility sector. The model, including crop production, is solved for several scenarios—a base solution, energy price increases, and a sulfur constraint. Under these scenarios, crop residue replaces coal at 20%,40%, and 60% of the 1975 Btu's consumed.
The Formation of Cooperatives: A Game‐Theoretic Approach with Implications for Cooperative Finance, Decision Making, and Stability
Authors: Sexton Richard J. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper departs from the traditional organization‐oriented approach to cooperative analysis. It exploits cooperation's functional similarity to vertical integration to examine individuals' incentives to form cooperatives. A model of formation of a purchasing cooperative is presented and developed as an n‐person game with the core as a solution concept. Core existence is examined for both single‐ and multiple‐cooperative configurations, and cooperative finance methods are examined relative to finding core‐compatible allocation rules. The results provide insight into a cooperative's equilibrium output, stability, decision making, financing methods, and choice of open or restricted membership.
A Stochastic Dominance Comparison of Water‐Conserving Irrigation Strategies
Authors: Harris Thomas R. , Mapp Harry P. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractStochastic dominance and stochastic dominance with respect to a function are used to compare water‐conserving irrigation strategies in an area of declining ground water supplies. A computerized grain sorghum plant growth model using daily weather observations provides the basis for stochastic dominance comparisons. Six irrigation strategies dominate contemporary intensive irrigation practices by first‐degree stochastic dominance and two additional strategies exhibit second‐degree stochastic dominance over contemporary practices. Dominant strategies involve irrigating based on a 45 percent soil water criterion and eliminating early season irrigations. Some dominant strategies reduce water use by as much as 40 percent while increasing expected net returns.
Sales Loss Determination in Food Contamination Incidents: An Application to Milk Bans in Hawaii
Authors: Smith Mark E. , van Ravenswaay Eileen O. , Thompson Stanley R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis article presents a procedure for estimating sales loss following a food contamination incident with application to the case of heptachlor contamination of fresh fluid milk in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1982. A major finding is that media coverage following the incident had a significant impact on milk purchases and that negative coverage had a larger effect than positive coverage. This conclusion implies that public statements by producers or government to assure the public of safe food supplies may be ineffective in restoring consumer confidence following the discovery of a food safety problem.
Valuing Environmental Quality: Weak Complementarity with Sets of Goods
Authors: Bockstael Nancy E. , Kling Catherine L. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn practice, it is frequently impossible to identify a single good which is a weak complement to an environmental amenity for which welfare measures are desired. However, a set of goods exhibiting this property sometimes exists, e.g., water‐related recreational activities when the nonmarket good to be valued is water quality. A set of weak complements is defined and implications for welfare measurement presented. The proper welfare measure now involves evaluation of a line integral and simple additions of areas under demand curves will not always be correct. However, under certain econometric circumstances, approximate welfare measures can be obtained from estimated functions.
The Output Bias of Technological Change in Postwar Japanese Agriculture
Authors: Kuroda Yoshimi 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIn order to explain the rapid change in the output mix, this study tests the hypothesis that technological change in postwar Japanese agriculture was biased towards livestock production. A multioutput translog cost function was estimated for the 1958–84 period in which results are consistent with the hypothesis. Furthermore, changes in the composition of crop and livestock production had significant impacts on relative factor uses. Above all, expanding livestock production required relatively less labor than expanding crop production, implying a positive contribution to the rapid exodus of labor to the nonagricultural sectors.
Prices as Proxies for Prices
Authors: Garrod Peter V. , Roberts Roland K. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractIt is unusual for the precise price data required by economic theory to be available, and as a result, many applied studies use information on regional or average prices as proxies for the specific prices required. The use of one price as a proxy for another, however, introduces all the problems associated with the use of proxy variables into the analysis; and these problems may persist, particularly those associated with specification errors, even if the proxy is highly correlated with the true variable. It is possible, however, to minimize the impact of specification errors by adding additional variables.
The Relative Efficiency of Agricultural Source Water Pollution Control Policies
Authors: Shortle James S. , Dunn James W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThis paper examines the relative expected efficiency of four general strategies which have been proposed for achieving agricultural nonpoint pollution abatement. Emphasis is placed on the implications of differential information about the costs of changes in farm management practices, the impracticality of accurate direct monitoring, and the stochastic nature of nonpoint pollution. The possibility of using hydrological models to reduce, but not eliminate, the uncertainty about the magnitude of nonpoint loadings is incorporated into the analysis. The principal result is that appropriately specified management practice incentives should generally outperform estimated runoff standards, estimated runoff incentives, and management practice standards for reducing agricultural nonpoint pollution.
Optimal Governing Instrument, Operation Level, and Enforcement in Natural Resource Regulation: The Case of the Fishery
Authors: Anderson Lee G. , Lee Dwight R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMost regulation studies have used industry output or inputs as the control variable(s), but these are only indirectly controlled by government action through its choice of governing instrument, enforcement procedure, and penalty structure and the operational level of each. A model is developed which demonstrates how profit‐maximizing firms will react to these control variables taking into account the benefits (extra production) and costs (possible penalties) of noncompliance and the ability to avoid detection of noncompliance. The optimal operation level for two sets of control variables is derived and discussed.
Investment and Disinvestment Principles with Nonconstant Prices and Varying Firm Size Applied to Beef‐Breeding Herds
Authors: Trapp James N. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractVariable beef‐breeding herd sizes are found to be optimal given cyclical beef prices. Traditional replacement theory does not allow variable firm size because unequal investment (replacement) and disinvestment (culling) rates are not possible. If firm size changes, cost of production per unit endogenously changes given a u‐shaped cost curve. Optimal investment and disinvestment rules for variable firm size are developed based upon the firm's cost curve and discounted net revenue flows for a finite rolling planning horizon. Current and future investment and disinvestment decisions are linked by their mutual effect on firm size and hence production cost per unit.
An Alternative Approach to Decisions under Uncertainty Using the Empirical Moment‐Generating Function
Authors: Collender Robert Neil , Chalfant James A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractObjections to mean‐variance analysis center on the requirement that the distributions be normal or the resulting inattention to higher‐order moments when the solution is viewed as an approximation. A nonparametric approach to decision making under uncertainty is developed in this paper using expected utility maximization, the exponential utility function, and an empirical moment‐generating function. A decision rule is obtained for land allocation under uncertainty which is not tied to a particular family of distributions and accounts for all moments of the distribution.
Sources of Growth in French Agriculture
Authors: Bouchet Frédéric , Orden David , Norton George W. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractGrowth of French agriculture is addressed with production disaggregated among cereals, noncereal crops, milk, and animal products. Short‐run and long‐run supply functions are derived from a restricted profit function model in which capital and family labor are assumed quasi‐fixed and measures of French public agricultural research expenditures and international technology availability are included. Production is found to be price responsive, but the estimated supply functions are inelastic even when the quasi‐fixed factors adjust optimally. Technical change as a source of output growth is also supported. Domestic research is estimated to be the primary cause of increased cereals output over the 1960–84 period, while international technology transfers and domestic research seem to be important for milk production.
Mandatory Production Controls and Asset Values: A Case Study of Burley Tobacco Quotas
Authors: Vantreese Valerie L. , Reed Michael R. , Skees Jerry R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractMandatory production control programs affect asset values. Changes in the implied value of burley tobacco quota and impacts on agricultural land values are estimated using a capitalization approach. Recent instability in the tobacco program has created uncertainty about the future profitability of quota ownership. The procedure uses data on individual parcel transactions and regresses the parcel's price on hedonic factors including the parcel's tobacco quota. Results indicate tobacco quota values have fluctuated as much as 75% between some years. The implication is that mandatory controls affect both the value and risk associated with ownership of the production right.
Rice in Asia: Is It Becoming an Inferior Good?
Authors: Ito Shoichi , Peterson E. Wesley F. , Grant Warren R. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractEmpirical results using time‐series and cross‐sectional data indicate that rice in Asia is becoming an inferior good. Income elasticities declined and in some cases became negative between 1961 and 1985 in most of the fourteen Asian countries studied. Accordingly, domestic demand for rice in these countries is not likely to grow as rapidly as it has in the past. As a consequence, there is a potential for excess supplies of rice to develop in Asia, putting downward pressure on rice prices. While governments in Asian countries may need to adjust their rice policies in the future, world rice suppliers may need to develop new markets for rice.
Estimating Production Activity Costs for Multioutput Firms with a Random Coefficient Regression Model
Authors: Hornbaker Robert H. , Dixon Bruce L. , Sonka Steven T. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA random coefficient regression model provides an approach for estimating the mean variable costs of specific enterprise production activities for each output over a population of multioutput firms. The model specifically acknowledges that these farm‐level costs vary from farm to farm. In addition, best linear unbiased predictions can be estimated for each activity for an individual farm. The mean estimates are quite useful for ex post cost analysis, thereby providing per unit cost estimates for farmers, governmental agencies, and researchers. The best linear unbiased predictions can be used by individual farmers for planning yearly operations, applying for operating loans, and analyzing marketing strategies.
Testing a von Liebig Crop Response Function against Polynomial Specifications
Authors: Ackello‐Ogutu Christopher , Paris Quirino , Williams William A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractCrop responses to fertilizers traditionally have been specified as polynomial functions. Recently, criticisms were raised against such specifications because they force substitution between nutrients and overestimate the optimal fertilizer quantity. With those criticisms, an alternative crop response function was presented in the form of a minimum function which equates the realized output to the production potential associated with a limiting input. In this paper a nonnested test is performed to discriminate between the two rival specifications. The results of this test reject the hypothesis that a crop response is of the polynomial type, while they do not reject the hypothesis that it is of the minimum and plateau type.
Multiple Use Benefits on Public Rangelands: An Incentive‐Based Fee System
Authors: Huffaker Ray G. , Wilen James E. , Gardner B. Delworth 
Published: July 2006

AbstractA grazing fee system is developed which induces multiple‐use compliance by present‐value‐maximizing permittees with stewardship responsibilities. The fee system increases grazing fees per animal stocked when needed to induce permittees to supply increased vegetation for nongrazing uses competing with livestock. The negative impact of increased fees on permittee wealth is offset by compensatory transfer payments. Taken together, grazing fees and compensation payments induce the multiple‐use required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and protect against the economic disruption of the western livestock industry as required by the Taylor Grazing Act.