This paper develops a framework for competitiveness that incorporates path dependency within production regions. Patterns of technological innovation, product development, institutions, and market orientation follow a certain local path. This evolution creates regional economies that emerge with...

Genetically modified cotton varieties have the potential for increasing returns and/or decreasing labor requirements. A nonlinear optimization model is applied to a whole farm analysis for evaluating cotton production technologies. This model maximizes farm utility, composed of expected returns...

Fats and oils play a prominent role in U.S. dietary patterns. Recent concerns over the negative health consequences associated with fats and oils have led many to suspect structural change in demand conditions. Our analysis considers short run (monthly) demand relationships for edible fats and...

South Africa is emerging as a major player in the world agricultural products market. This study investigates aggregate food demand patterns in South Africa using a linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) modeling framework. Data from a 1993 integrated national household survey...

Price discovery is a frequent topic of research, but many times is not clearly defined and thus purported to cover a myriad of topics. This article provides two alternative theories as the basis for one line of price discovery research. Empirical models consistent with the two theories are...

The present article uses the modified Arkansas off-stream reservoir analysis and the environmental policy-integrated climate models to examine the impacts of on-farm reservoirs and tail water recovery systems in conjunction with other best management practices on profitability, water use, and...

Due to red meat consumption, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) disease has been a major human health concern since its discovery in 1986. An event study approach was applied to determine the impact of BSE official events that occurred in the United Kingdom on U.S. live cattle futures...

This study investigates a number of factors influencing technical efficiency of Greek farms participating in the 1994 European Union (EU) farm credit program. Technical efficiency measures are obtained within the framework of a parametric stochastic frontier. Factors showing a positive effect on...

Increased use of alternative fuels and low commodity prices have contributed to the recent expansion of the U.S. ethanol industry. As with any competitive industry, some level of output price risk exists in the form of volatility; yet, no actively traded ethanol futures market exists to mitigate...

Price elasticities and flexibilities for frozen dessert products were estimated from weekly scanner data, with emphasis on functional form selection, system misspecification testing, and endogeneity testing. Reciprocals of elasticities and elasticity matrix inversion were invalid means of...