Regional integration through trade is recognized as one way to foster economic growth and poverty reduction. This paper uses the gravity model and 11-year panel data (1996-2006) on Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries to study Zambia’s regional agricultural trade...

The article investigates the existence of market externalities due to increasing returns to marketing. Panel data on 198 pairs of maize markets in Zambia and correlated random effects linear and tobit estimators were used to model the relationship between market externalities and...

Some extension economists and others often recommend profit margin hedging in choosing thetiming of crop sales. This paper determines producer’s utility function and price processeswhere profit margin hedging is optimal. Profit margin hedging is shown to be an optimalstrategy under a highly...

The major finding is that liquidity costs in futures options market are two to three times higher thanliquidity costs in the futures market. Liquidity cost is one potential factor to consider when choosingbetween hedging with a futures contract or with an option contract. While there is...

Futures prices when combined with a basis forecast provide a reliable way to forecast cashprices. The most popular method of forecasting basis is historical moving averages. Given therecent failure of longer moving averages proposed by previous studies, this research reassessespast...

This study compares liquidity costs and other characteristics of electronic and open outcry hard red winter wheat futures contracts traded on the Kansas City Board of Trade. Liquidity costs are considerably lower in the electronic market than in the open outcry market. A new approach is used to...