China is experiencing rapid economic growth, resulting in increased demand for food. Estimates are made of Chinese production and consumption of rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans to the year 2005. Results indicate that China will become a large net importer especially of wheat, corn, and soybeans....

A principal-agent problem was specified to define the equilibrium solution of a contracting strategy for a U.S. supplier exporting wheat to meet EU traceability requirements. The buyer (principal) offers a contract, the supplier (agent) accepts the contract, and then the supplier decides whether...

Export subsidies and price transparency will be areas of critical importance in the forthcoming round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. This paper provides a review and discussion of issues relating to export subsidies and transparency in international wheat trade. Among other...

A number of challenges exist for genetically modified (GM) crop development at the production level. Contract strategies can resolve these challenges. Contracts can be designed to induce legal adoption of GM wheat by varying technology fees, violation detection, and penalties. The primary...

Consistency of functional characteristics in hard red spring (HRS) wheat is a concern confronting sellers and buyers. This research analyzes contract incentives for importers with respect to cost and potential risk of acceptance. A principal-agent framework is utilized to examine contract...

A stochastic optimization model was developed to determine optimal testing strategies, costs, and risks of a dual marketing system. The model chooses the testing strategy (application, intensity, and tolerance) that maximizes utility (minimizes disutility) of additional system costs due to...

Consistency of functional characteristics in hard red spring (HRS) wheat is a concern confronting sellers and buyers. This research analyzes contract incentives for importers with respect to cost and potential risk of acceptance. A principal-agent framework is utilized to examine contract...

Dockage levels in U.S. wheat exports have been a continuing concern. Recent proposals have focused on changes in U.S. grain standards that would include dockage limits. In this report, dockage trends and practices were documented and effects of prospective changes evaluated. Results indicate the...