The primary aim of the course is to develop an economic approach to understanding and solving problems associated with the marketing of agricultural and other commodities. The course, however, also has a strong applied orientation. The course is divided into a series of modules and topics. Module B examines the important role prices play in agricultural and commodity markets as well as broader aspects related to market information and reporting. Module C introduces the notion of market integration and linkages as well as the analysis of marketing margins.
Issues covered include futures markets, spatial pricing, and grading.
Module G examines the efficiency of the overall marketing system for agricultural and commodity markets. Module H introduces students to quantitative modelling of supply, demand and market prices. The intent is not to fully develop the skills needed to conduct these analyses, but instead to develop familiarity with the methods used and the assumptions underlying them. Module I then shows the application of the techniques learnt during the course to the analysis of particular commodity markets. A list of the modules and topics follows.