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...

Risks associated with guarantees of land contracts are expected to be greater than guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders. Farmers utilizing seller-financing have greater debts, less cash flow, less equity in real estate, and less solvency than farmers utilizing regular FSA guarantees....

This paper provides a comparison between grain farms in Ontario and Illinois. The intent is to focus on how the two regions compare, economically, and how government programs in each region differ and affect asset valuations. In general the results indicate that the two economies move in tandem...

This study evaluates the impacts on gross revenue distributions of the use of alternative crop insurance products across different coverage levels and across locations with differing yield risks. Results are presented in terms of net costs, values-at-risk, and certainty equivalent returns...

Theoretical arguments suggest that diversification has both value-enhancing and value-reducing effects. Several finance studies have found that the average diversified firm is worth less than a portfolio of comparable single-segment firms. In agriculture, farms have different characteristics and...