In the economic growth literature there have been numerous theoretical and empirical studies that examined a multitude of potential factors and policies affecting economic growth, primarily public policies such as infrastructure, education, and taxes. While we have some understanding of how...

The US commercial banking system has undergone dramatic consolidation. This consolidation has been in response to fundamental changes in regulation and technology. The banking and finance literature is abound with research attempting to quantify and evaluate a wide range of outcomes arising from...

Agri-environmental programs have become popular in many countries as a means of improving environmental quality. In the United States, recent Farm Bills have progressively expanded the number and range of these programs beyond soil conservation to water quality and other issues. Economists have...

Agriculture remains a key component of economic development, but the methodology for how development policies are determined has changed for developing countries. In the last decade, the focus of economic growth in developing countries has shifted from country-wide prescriptions to testable...

Area closures have been widely used in the management of migratory fish and conservation of endangered marine species, but very few economic models are available to assess the impacts of a closure because economists have paid little attention to complexities in fishery management, such as...

This dissertation explores issues related to efficiency, how efficiently markets transmit information, of non-genetically modified (GM) soybean and conventional soybean futures markets at the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE). The first manuscript examines how efficiently non-GM and conventional...

In South Africa, precipitation is extremely variable and water is scarce. South Africa is also a country with great welfare needs. Challenging economic development targets and plans therefore need to be implemented successfully within the constraints of limited water supply and unreliable water...

Forecasting is an indispensable tool in the decision making process. People, on a daily basis, make forecasts inherently and decide on the basis of that. Formal forecasting methods are commonly applied to substantiate business decision making. Agriculture is no exception to this. There are...

South Africa has become, after deregulation, part of the global village. This brought about many business opportunities, but with it came many challenges with respect to grain marketing. It is well-known facts that the marketing of grain has become quite a challenge in S.A. South African...

The near collapse of extension services in Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA) particularly evident in its failure to respond to the needs of the majority of small-scale farmers, presents a major problem from an agricultural and rural development point of view. This calls for an urgent and...