This study explores the role of rate and biases of technological change in the sustainability of an economy with an exhaustible resource. In order to achieve this goal, the mathematical concept of viability kernel is introduced as a sustainability indicator and necessary conditions for...

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/29/09.

Economic viability of the US corn ethanol industry depends on prices, technical and economic efficiency of plants and on continuation of policy support. Public policy support is tied to the environmental efficiency of plants measured as their impact on emissions of greenhouse gases. This study...

In this study we use data envelopment analysis to decompose the overall economic efficiency of a sample of ethanol plants into three subcomponents: technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and a new component we call marketing efficiency. The relative importance of these sources of efficiency...

Energy is a critical input in production and the main sources of energy in modern economies are exhaustible. Therefore sustaining aggregate consumption across generations requires reduction of the quantity of energy used per unit of output. Energy policies incentivize the deployment of new...

Off-farm demand for crop residues is expected to grow as bioenergy policies become effective. Demand for residues will provide farmers with an additional source of revenue but it may also trigger losses in soil organic carbon and increases in fertilizer application. This study develops a dynamic...

As environmental deterioration and global warming arouses more and more attention, identifying cleaner and more environmentally friendly energy sources is of interest to society. In addition to environmental concerns, both the high price of gasoline and the fact that the United States has heavy...

This paper provides the first comprehensive economic and life cycle analysis for three major proposed cellulosic feedstocks for biofuels: corn stover, miscanthus, and switchgrass. This economic and environmental evaluation is needed to determine if (how) the emissions reduction requirement in...

This study develops and solves a stochastic, multi-year, discrete space-time model that allows the comparative analysis between non-spatial and spatially explicit models. The solution to this model implies the Stochastic Space-Time Natural Enemy-adjusted Economic Threshold (SST-NEET) to guide...

We develop a dynamic model of livestock disease and decentralized economic behavior as a jointly-determined system. By accounting for feedbacks between behavioral choices and disease outcomes we capture the endogenous nature of infection risks. We consider government mandated testing of...