The general objective of this study was to provide updated estimates of value of the green industry in Louisiana. Data collection was conducted for the production sector (Nursery Growers and Sod Producers, and Landscape Design, Installation and Maintenance Services) and the Golf Industry. In...

Past research on consumer perceptions related to Low Price Guarantees (LPG) have primarily investigated effects of LPG on consumer search intentions, their perception of offer value and their purchase intentions. The present research had two major objectives: (i) to study the probable effect of...

Structural-time series models have not gained much ground in commodity market modeling despite the overwhelming popularity of time series approaches in forecasting and dynamic analyses. This dissertation contributes by applying developments in seasonal cointegration and structural-time series...

The development of an efficient processing infrastructure is critical for the budding cellulosic ethanol industry. Developing a diverse feedstock portfolio is one crucial part of this process which can lead towards economically feasible cellulosic ethanol production. Cellulosic ethanol...

Sales by ornamental nurseries in the United States have grown, recently, at an impressive rate. For example, sales of the greenhouse and nursery crops component increased about 18% from 2000 to 2006 (USDA, 2007). The evolution of a diverse set of market channel alternatives, including the garden...

Risk is an important concern in the management of a farm business. The rising input prices along with the variability in the farm commodity prices may result in a risk environment. Government programs have generally provided income support to farmers. However, there has been considerable...

The overall goal of this research is to empirically analyze shrimp fishermen behavior to help improve the management of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet. Given that optimal management requires consideration of more than the net benefits derived from shrimp harvesting, this research also seeks to...

ABSTRACTThis study determines the impact of U.S. government policies on U.S. ethanol market and its consequences for the U.S. corn, sugar, and HFCS markets. Using corn as the primary input in ethanol and HFCS production in the United States, along with the substitutability between sugar and...

Graham and Harveys (2001) survey evidence and Baker, Greenwood, and Wurgler (2003) indicate that firm managers try to time debt markets based on term spreads or excess bond returns when choosing the maturity of new debt issues. Whether debt market timing increases firm value via a reduced cost...

This dissertation focuses on the mortgage default behavior and the valuation of distressed properties. Three essays are included.The first essay uses New Orleans foreclosure data, where each property has three appraisals, to investigate the factors affecting appraisal bias and accuracy, and to...