Price stabilization is an important policy goal of government intervention in competitive markets. These policies are primarily directed at raising producer income and stabilizing market prices at levels acceptable to consumers and producers (Fox 1956, Turnovsky 1978, Newbery and Stiglitz 1979)....

This paper investigates the empirical foundation for policy reform prescriptions suggested by the institutional approach to economic growth. The focus is the relationship between institutional reforms, measured by changes in a country's political or civil rights, and economic growth. Empirical...

In early 1986, the government of Haiti began a series of economic reforms in agriculture designed to reduce the degree of government price intervention, to increase efficiencies in the agricultural sector, and to reduce restrictions on the quantities of food imports. The critical extent of...

Approaches to the specification of demand systems and the estimation of demand parameters have expanded considerably during recent years (Blundell, 1988). Available empirical estimates have been based on time-series, cross-section, and time-series of cross-section data on individuals, households...

A viable agricultural policy should adapt to any changes occurring within the agricultural sector. With the growing focus on environmentally friendly agriculture, increased role for markets by reducing the influence of farm programs, agricultural-related global climate change, and budgetary...

The Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) is used to estimate the household food cost used for determining benefits for participants in the food stamp program. Dietary norms and requirements for macro and micronutrients are reflected in the TFP. Because the TFP is important in calculating benefit levels for...

Fueled by economic forces, dairy sector policies, technological progress, and strict environmental regulations the U.S. dairy industry is consolidating into large, confined animal feedlot operations (CAFOs) and concentrating in a few localized areas. These structural changes produced a...

Within the Conservation Reserve (CR) program, a change in program criteria could reduce the amount of erosion material entering our nation's waterways. The inclusion of land adjacent to water bodies, flowing streams, and river waterways may reduce erosion from these lands and improve water...

The Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) equations used in this paper provide a feasible method for projecting longer-run trade patterns of the Former Soviet Union, one that does not depend on elasticities or the optimality of existing resource use. The authors contrast forecasted and actual trade...

This report summarizes the ARIMS analysis for the 1990 Farm Bill Conservation Initiatives Work Group. Three major tasks were completed. First, ARIMS was updated to reflect the short-run nature of possible 1990 farm bill policies. Specifically, ARIMS now incorporates a more differentiated set of...