In this paper, we examine more closely some of the forces that underlie economic growth at the county level. In an effort to describe a much more comprehensive regional economic growth model, we address a variety of different hypotheses by introducing a large number of growth-related variables....

A recent scientific publication stated that to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, the most permanent and rapid solution would be to sink crop residues to the ocean floor where they would be buried in deep ocean sediments. However, mitigating rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations by removing crop...

We present results from an application of the Biofuel Breakeven program (BioBreak) to 14 US cellulosic ethanol markets that vary by feedstock and location.  BioBreak estimates the economic costs of cellulosic biofuel production for each market and identifies the necessary conditions to sustain...

How does current weather and climate change impact cropland use and allocation? Using 2010 ARMS data on several thousand central US farms, we estimate a two-step model that controls for expected relative prices, local soil characteristics, and self-selection into primary crop. We find that: (i)....

In this paper we examine some of the economic forces that underlie economic growth at the county level. In an effort to describe a much more comprehensive regional economic growth model, we address a variety of different growth hypotheses by introducing a large number of growth related...

Animal welfare activists have succeeded in persuading egg purchasers to purchase only eggs that are produced according to new animal welfare guidelines. This agreement will increase the cost of producing eggs that are sold in the shell. To date, the guidelines do not apply to eggs that are...

A prominent facet of recent changes in agriculture has been the advent of precision breeding techniques. Another has been an increase in the level of information inputs and outputs associated with agricultural production. This paper identifies ways in which these features may complement in...

This study examines correlates with aggregate county income growth across the 48 contiguous states from 1990 to 2001. Since visual inspection of the variable to be explained shows a clear spatial relationship and to control for potentially endogenous variables, we estimate a two-stage spatial...

An important dimension of product differentiation and segregation for specialty crops is the added handling and transaction costs incurred. Some forms of business organization may realize lower costs of providing such services, and if specialty crop production is growing relative to commodity...