This paper examines three invited papers focused on commodity prices. Public responses to high nominal commodity prices and perceived increases in price risk have ranged from attempts to assign blame, attempts to change contracting arrangements, and development of public policy that...

The effects of structural shifts in the treatment of intergovernmental aid during the 1980s are tested using a sample of 1,929 rural counties with local road responsibilities. A dynamic model is used to test the hypothesis that local public officials treated intergovernmental aid differently...

The role of farm dependence and size on rural economic growth is examined with data from 2,240 nonmetropolitan U.S. counties for the period 1990-1995. A simple neoclassical model of regional economic growth is set forth with a central question relating to the role of agriculture on rural...