Economic hardship, agricultural policy reform and price developments have adversely affected incomes from agricultural production in Lithuania, and many farm households have accessed additional sources of income in the rural economy. In an analysis of recently collected survey data we find that...

In most transition economies, agricultural reforms have led to the emergence of family farms and household food production and to the decline of corporate farms. This study explores the extent of that trend for the case of Lithuania based on secondary information and primary survey data. The...

Most economists congregate on the idea that commodity price instability should be reduced. Since at least one century a variety of instruments have been designed to that end, without much success, especially for agricultural commodities. The failure might be a consequence of the fact that most...

This paper presents new results of mathematical modeling of economy and environment interaction. A model of mutual interaction of livestock farming - one in a two main agricultural branches - and natural pastures that are the essential part of livestock farming forage reserve is proposed....

Value-at-Risk (VaR) determines the probability of a portfolio of assets losing a certain amount in a given time period due to adverse market conditions with a particular level of confidence. Value-at-Risk has received considerable attention from financial economists and financial practitioners...

This paper explores the potential for futures contracts in tropical (hardwood) plywood, one of the few major internationally traded commodities for which there is no yet a futures market. Commodity characteristics and market structures and practices that have an impact on the feasibility of a...

Using unique retail and wholesale price data for 4,532 products carried by a major Midwestern grocery retailer, we find evidence of significant retail price rigidity during the Thanksgiving through Christmas holiday period relative to the rest of the year. We suggest that this pattern of holiday...

Multiproduct optimal hedging is compared to alternative hedging strategies as applied to a Midwestern cattle feeder. One-period feeding margin hedge ratios are estimated using weekly cash and futures price data from a simulation of a custom feedlot for 1983-1995. Hedge ratios are estimated using...

Recent changes in farm policy have renewed interest in using marketing strategies based on futures and options markets to enhance the income of field crop producers. This article reviews the literature surrounding the dominant academic theory of the behavior of futures and options markets, the...