Transportation rates are vital components in the structure of U.S. grain exports. In this paper we study the dynamic properties of corn and soybean prices, and barge, rail and ocean shipping rates using time series analysis on monthly 1992-2001 data. Using Error Correction Model and Directed...

The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 granted railroads freedom to establish rates and enter into confidential contracts with grain shippers. Recent legislation (1986) required that certain contract terms be disclosed. This study shows rail rates in the Plains region commenced an upward trend after...

An anticipated increase in lock delays on the upper Mississippi River has generated concern about its future navigational efficiency. The objective of this paper is to identify selected factors affecting lock delay on the River's busiest locks and to examine the impact of lock delay on grain...

This paper compares three approaches to using attitudinal data to describe heterogeneous preferences for non-market goods. Two latent class models and one random parameter logit model are included. Each model makes different assumptions about the role of attitudes in the decision process....

In this paper, multivariate spatial autoregressive model of local public expenditure determination is developed. The empirical model is developed based on maximization of community utility function. The model is estimate by efficient GMM using Appalachian counties and the results indicate...

The paper examines growth in the U.S. agricultural sector under the conditions hypothesized by endogenous growth theory. Public capital and R&D in agriculture are explicitly considered to capture the effect of public inputs. Results support some of the necessary conditions for this hypothesis to...

The Grant-in-Aid Program is a State sponsored seed grant program whereby the State of Minnesota provides the University of Minnesota approximately $2 million annually to fund new faculty research. Recently, the Graduate School engaged in an internal review of the Grant-in-Aid program. The...

Voluntary donations to non-game species protection through state income tax checkoffs are analyzed. An analogy between the contingent valuation method and check-off scheme is drawn by observing the existence of agenda effects in the latter. Results reveal that substitution and sequencing effects...

We present a theory of vehicle choice where utility depends on the vehicle choices made by other consumers. We use parameters from current transportation and public safety data to show that changes in motor vehicle policy may have unexpectedly large or non-existent effects on safety, fleet mix,...

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the technical efficiency of trucking carriers on a national basis by commodity groups for the year 2001. In this analysis, the efficiency measures are estimated using stochastic frontier analysis. Results reveal efficiency measures of trucking carriers...