MODELING THE U.S. SWEETENER SECTOR: AN APPLICATION TO THE ANALYSIS OF POLICY REFORM

This report documents a modeling framework for the U.S. sweeteners industry developed in the Specialty Crops Branch (SCB) of the Economic Research Service (ERS). Several innovations not seen in other studies include the regional modeling of sugar processing capacity adjustments and detailed sectoral analysis of sweeteners demand, using an Almost Ideal Demand Systems (AIDS) approach. The report describes the use of the framework to evaluate the benefits and costs of the current U.S. sugar program.