A model of commodity futures contract basis was developed based on Working’s theory of the price of storage. An error-correction model was estimated for the basis for the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) #2 cotton contract maturing in December during 2000-08. The model was also extended to...

In North Carolina, where soybeans and corn are the two primary crops, the recent increase in the demand for U.S. corn has triggered a shift of farm acreage from soybeans to corn, leading to a rapid rise in prices of both commodities. However, the rate of the price changes, as well as the price...

The ultimate objective of commercial horticultural activities is to satisfy the needs of the final consumer. Consumer demand for novel plants drives the ornamental plant industry. Therefore, dispersal of native and invasive horticultural plants can be understood by considering the...

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the generic advertising helps or hurts the brand advertising within the differentiated product environments. We develop an analytical model that includes both generic and brand advertising expenditures considering vertical product...

Understanding the determinants of liquidity costs in agricultural futures markets is hampered by a need to use proxies for the bid-ask spread which are often biased, and by a failure to account for a jointly determined micro-market structure. We estimate liquidity costs and its determinants for...

The recent concurrent surges of food and commodity prices renew the debate on the causal directions between producer and consumer prices. To address this issue, we utilize the stage of processing system incorporating retail stage beyond crude, intermediate, and finished processing stages of food...

Replaced with revised version of paper 09/01/09.

Soybeans are one of the most valuable crops in the world and are characterized by their multi-purpose uses: food, feed, fuel and other industrial usages such as paint, inks, and plastics. Out of 183.9 million tons of world supply/demand of soybeans in 2001-03 year, about 10% of them were...

Replaced with revised version of paper on 09/29/09. Former title: Mergers, Price Competition for the U.S. Carbonated Soft Drink Industry