The acceptance of the nodal pricing system as a mechanism to organize wholesale power markets has exposed both generators and consumers to unprecedented volatile prices. Most of the volatility follows from the method for valuing congestion on the network. Generators and wholesale consumers pay...

The analysis of consumer demands is limited by data availability. Typically, aggregate consumption and expenditure data are all that is available to draw conclusions based on the theory of individual consumer behavior. Such limitations are problematic as some demand systems possess non-linear...

In this dissertation a non-parametric method for the measurement of firm efficiency and risk aversion is developed, tested, and applied. This method is a modification of data envelopment analysis (DEA) that allows the user to simultaneously determine the firm's efficiency score while taking the...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of market structure and physical network constraints on the performance of deregulated wholesale electricity market under demand uncertainty. The problem was formulated as a Mixed Complementarity Problem, and Stochastic Equilibrium...

Demand analysis at an individual level, using survey data, is becoming increasingly popular. While such analysis has many benefits it suffers from computational or econometric difficulties associated with non-consumption, i.e., problems associated with binding non-negativity constraints that...

There is considerable interest in projections of future productivity growth in agriculture. Whether one is interested in the outlook for global commodity markets, future patterns of international trade, or the interactions between land use, deforestation and ecological diversity, the rate of...

Federal and State regulatory agencies are considering switching from a nitrogen-based manure disposal policy to one that is phosphorus-based. This analysis estimates the compliance costs of this policy change for a representative hog-grain farm in Wabash County, Indiana. The representative farm...

Despite record global economic growth in past decade – malnutrition remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about 800 million people (17% of the world’s population) remain malnourished. For these...

Limited data on the allocation of inputs to different activities has limited agricultural economists' attempts to measure sub-sector productivity growth in agriculture. However, recent developments have enabled us to estimate total factor productivity (TFP) growth for crops and livestock...