This paper examines the relationship between uncertainty and investment decisions by food and non-food firms. Using hysteresis and the real options paradigm, we review why uncertainty might cause firms to delay investment. In particular, our model looks for a negative relationship between...

Banks in non-metropolitan areas compete in a spatially-differentiated environment. Particularly with the advent of electronic banking services, however, there is some question as to how much market power is conferred by spatial separation from rivals. This paper estimates a structural model of...

The addition of commodities to financial portfolios and resulting weight adjustments may create volatility linkages between commodity and financial markets, especially during financial crises. Also, biofuel mandates are suspected to integrate agricultural and energy markets. We calculate...

Modern agricultural commodity markets are simultaneously governed by a physical and a financial market element. Whether financial “index trading” activity influences price levels on the futures markets has been investigated by empirical studies using Granger Causality Analysis. A critical...

Presumed portfolio benefits of commodities and the availability of index fund-type investment products increase attractiveness of commodity markets for financial traders. But resulting “index trading” strategies are suspected to inflate commodity prices above their fundamental value. We use...