We examine consistency with economic theory of markup decisions for a risk averse firm facing demand uncertainty. We derive testable comparative static results that describe the influence on the markup of expected demand, demand uncertainty, average variable costs and exogenous demand shifters....

This paper describes preferences for attributes of ideal soil substitutes reported by industry demand segments, and relates those attributes to willingness to pay for soil substitutes. Regression results on principal components indicate that concern over product stability, safety and...

Organic farmers, wholesalers, and retailers need price forecasts to improve their decision-making practices. This paper presents a methodology and protocol to select the best performing method from several time and frequency domain candidates. Weekly farmgate prices for organic fresh produce are...

Organic farmers, wholesalers, and retailers need reliable price forecasts to improve their decision- making practices. This paper presents a methodology and protocol to select the best-performing method from several time and frequency domain candidates. Weekly farmgate prices for organic fresh...

Fixed search costs associated with locating and purchasing pecans invalidate the Tobit model. Factors such as perceived quality, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets influence the fixed costs of pecan purchases. These factors have differing impacts on the probability of...

Food expenditure patterns were examined for Hispanic households in the U.S. Engel curves for three food categories: food eaten at-home, food eaten away-from-home, and for total food, were estimated using four different functional forms. Confidence intervals for income and household elasticities...

The objective of this research was to analyze the demand patterns of Hispanic households for meats in comparison with other ethnic groups using data from the 1998 Consumer Expenditure Survey. A system of demand equations of the LinQuad form were estimated for ten meat products using an...

Peanut meal is cross-hedged with soybean meal using peanut meal cash prices and soybean meal futures prices. Hedge rations are obtained for short- vs. long-term data sets. Evaluation indicates positive gains for cross-hedged poultry/peanut producers, and that soybean meal futures can be used as...

Agricultural production is highly dependent on inorganic substances including fertilizers. High-yielding crop varieties, such as corn, require large amounts of primary nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Farmers often add a surplus of nutrients to crops to maximize yields....