Replaced with revised version of paper 07/24/09.

This study evaluates the environmental efficiency of seven recently constructed ethanol plants in the North Central region of the U.S., using nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA). Environmental efficiency is measured and decomposed into its technical and allocative sources. Results show...

Price volatility and policy changes may compromise the ability of corn ethanol plants to operate above average variable cost and avoid shutdown. This study derives a variable cost function capable of accommodating two features of ethanol plants; 1) some inputs are used in fixed proportions and...

Books reviewed include: Review of World Development Report 2000/2001: "Attacking Poverty", World Bank; CAP Regimes and the European Countryside by F. Brouwer and P. Lowe; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Income Risk Management in Agriculture; Agriculture and Economic Growth:...

The internal rate of return to public investment in agricultural R&D is estimated for each of the continental U.S. states. Theoretically, our contribution provides a way of obtaining the returns to a local public good using Rothbart’s concept of virtual prices. Empirically, we use the spatial...

Replaced with revised version of paper 08/24/09.

This paper uses panel data for the 1980-2004 period to estimate the contributions of public research to U.S. agricultural productivity growth. Local and social internal rates of return are estimated accounting for the effects of R&D spill-in, extension activities and road density. R&D spill-in...