A real option analysis of dry-grind corn ethanol plants compared to a standard net present value analysis (NPV) shows that the option values increase entry prices and lower exit prices of investment and disinvestment considerably. For a large plant, the gross margin of ethanol price over the...

The US hog and dairy sectors are increasingly shifting production toward western states away from more traditional production regions in the east. In contrast, production levels in the fed-cattle sector have increased over the last three decades only in the three main producing states. One...

The paper addresses the relationship between agricultural spills and environmental complaints filed by citizens against agriculture. It also determines the influence of other factors on the likelihood of both farm spills and complaints within a region. The relationships have been estimated using...

This study has attempted to distinguish the alternative forms of transaction costs referred to the environmental policy literature and to bring these transaction costs into a unified theory. The optimal choice of economic instrument between Pigouvian taxes and tradable permits is shown to depend...

To meet its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol (KP), Canada must reduce its current annual GHG emissions (694 MT CO2 equivalent) by 240 MT CO2. Canada’s agricultural industries have the potential to generate a carbon sink of 10 MT CO2 (Government of Canada, 2003). The purpose of this...

Cost-effectiveness is an important consideration in evaluating choices for meeting environmental quality objectives. Estimated crop yield response functions and the associated groundwater-nitrate pollution production functions were used to evaluate the optimal N fertilization and on-farm...

This study examines the factors affecting state annual share of national inventory for each of the hog, dairy, and fed-cattle sectors using data from the 48 contiguous states for 1976 to 2000. The paper develops a state specific, time-series environmental stringency measure and introduces...

Fundamental to the assertion that environmental regulatory standards are strategically set by decentralized authorities and consequently firms respond to spatial differences in regulatory standards is the underline causal relationship. Establishing the cause-effect association between regulatory...