The costs of shortages and rationing are not captured by standard consumer price indices. In this study, the authors use the virtual prices for the rationed goods to calculate a new cost-of-living index (CLI). The results for Poland show that from 1987 to 1992 the CLI that ignores the rationing...

This study tests the theory of rationing, examining changes in household consumption behavior during the transition to a market economy in Poland, 1987-92. Using pre-reform data from the Polish Household Budget Survey, Huffman and Johnson develop a model of consumption under rationing and derive...

The costs of shortages and rationing are not captured by standard consumer price indices. Thus the change in real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is an overestimate of welfare losses in transition economies. In this study the authors use virtual prices to calculate new cost-of-living...

We develop a real option model of the irreversible native grassland conversion decision. Upon plowing, native grassland can be followed by either a permanent cropping system or a system in which land is put under cropping (respectively, grazing) whenever crop prices are high (respectively, low)....

Strong demand for agricultural commodities, high crop prices and pressure to reduce government budget deficits heighten the need for land retirement programs to be designed to maximize environmental benefits for any given budget outlay. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest land...

The U.S. crop insurance market has several features that set it apart from other insurance markets. These include:(a) explicit government subsidies with an average premium subsidy rate of about 60% in recent years; and (b) the legislative requirement that premium rates be set at actuarially fair...

There have long been concerns that federal crop insurance subsidies may significantly impact land use decisions. It is well known that classical insurance market information asymmetry problems can lead to a social excess of risky land entering crop production. We provide a conceptual model to...

Rate setting procedures for United States crop yield and revenue insurance contracts employ methods that presume correlations to be state invariant. Whether this is true matters. If yield-yield correlations strengthen when crops are subject to widespread stress, then diversification...

Economic and welfare program factors affect the well-being of low-income families and their labor supply decisions. This study uses data from the U.S. Survey of Income and Program Participation. A nested logit model is estimated to explain the joint decisions to participate in Temporary...

The author examines family welfare and labor force participation of families potentially eligible for the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the Midwest region. High wage rates and low unemployment rates decrease the probability of welfare participation. For these...