Limited data on the allocation of inputs to different activities has limited agricultural economists' attempts to measure sub-sector productivity growth in agriculture. However, recent developments have enabled us to estimate total factor productivity (TFP) growth for crops and livestock...

The existence of backwardation has attracted considerable attention in commodity markets because of the negative carrying cost puzzle. This dissertation estimates the causes of backwardation of stochastic prices in grain markets. The research extends existing research by considering local market...

An investigation into the performance of CBERA and GSP programs for agricultural commodities from CBI countries found that most of the growth in exports of preferenced goods is due to six commodities--live tree slips or cuttings, dasheens, fresh or dried pineapples, cantaloupes, frozen orange...

The current evidence on the empirical relationship between asset returns, trading volume, and open interest in futures markets is largely inconclusive, and the literature on the theoretical and empirical links between return volatility and volume and open interest are even more limited. The...

The U.S. pork industry is in the midst of substantial structural changes. Hog slaughter and hog production is being concentrated into fewer, larger hands. Meanwhile, hog prices have experienced unprecedented volatility, raising concerns about market power in the pork industry by policy makers,...

We examine production economic implications of a specialized input to which a biological system (e.g., an animal) becomes desensitized over time, but its marginal productivity can be restored by increasing the dosage level. Optimal dosage levels and their timing become choice variables and may...

In this study, we estimate production costs and elasticities of factor substitution for Zimbabwean smallholders, using a dual (cost function) approach with detailed data on prices paid and received by each of 65 farms across six survey sites over two years. We find that 95% of observed farm...

Increased attention on government pricing policies among African nations leads directly to a need for information about producer responses to price adjustments. This is especially true in the case of Zambian maize production. Maize is the most important crop grown in Zambia. It accounts for more...