This dissertation proposes an optimal investment decision model that accounts for project irreversibility and price uncertainty. By specifying the cash flow as a dual profit function, the methodology admits hog and feed prices, rather than a composite cash flow, as the underlying stochastic...

Concerns in the United States meat industry about food credence attributes, such as environmental degradation, animal welfare and antibiotics usage in live animal production are forcing food suppliers to change marketing strategies. These changes have brought three issues into the forefront of...

The problems of pastoralist livestock marketing systems in East Africa are well-documented in the literature. They include poor transport infrastructure, inadequate market access and frequent rejection of animals at certain markets. Thus far, few studies have analyzed the effects of eliminating...

There is considerable interest in projections of future productivity growth in agriculture. Whether one is interested in the outlook for global commodity markets, future patterns of international trade, or the interactions between land use, deforestation and ecological diversity, the rate of...

Since colonialism, Western development workers have tried to solve the "problem" of African pastoralism. Efforts to change the pastoralist situation have ranged from promotion of sedentary agriculture to importation of European dairy cows. But these well-intentioned programs gave little in the...

There is considerable interest in projections of future productivity growth in agriculture. Whether one is interested in the outlook for global commodity markets, future patterns of international trade, or the interactions between land use, deforestation and ecological diversity, the rate of...