A firm model of production and hedging decisions is developed using a mean-variance preference function. Comparative static analysis of the model generates a number of testable hypotheses. For example, the influence of price risk, production risk and hedging cost on the optimal level of...

An integrated investigation of futures price, cash price, and government programs is presented in the context of an econometric model of acreage supply response for U.S. corn and soybeans. The analysis refines the role of different sources of price information in the farmers' acreage decision....

Previously published empirical models of U.S. farmland prices are reviewed and reestimated including recent data. It is apparent that structural changes have occurred. A simple single equation econometric model with less economic structure appears to forecast better than a simultaneous equation...

Some implications of theory are easily maintained in econometric estimation, but computational costs of maintaining curvature properties (sufficient for existence of an optimal solution) have often proved prohibitive. They also have been violated frequently by unrestricted econometric estimates....

The constant elasticity of transformation (CET) linear supply model is adapted and evaluated in this analysis of short-run supply response of six Texas field crops. Cross-product supply elasticities are estimated and direct supply elasticities are derived. The sensitivity of estimated parameters...

Based on a theoretical formulation of land price formation as an economic rent to a fixed input, a single equation econometric model is specified and estimated to explain land prices in five Iowa crop reporting districts. It identifies the influence of farm prices, inflationary pressures, and...

A restricted profit function model of California agriculture is specified and estimated subject to prior information provided by economic theory. Symmetry, homogeneity, and convexity of the profit function are maintained in the estimation. Parameter estimates and elasticities are presented for...

An elusive restriction maintained in earlier CET supply models with three or more products is shown to result in a potentially serious misspecification. Its impact on empirical estimates is found to be substantial, and an alternative formulation is presented which overcomes the problem while...

Conceptual problems in model specification of beef supply response studies are investigated and a simultaneous equation model is formulated to estimate annual U.S. carcass supply, demand, and inventories of beef. Three basic issues are addressed: (a) disaggregation, (b) simultaneity, and (c)...