Alcohol consumption is considered an important social activity but a major health risk in Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC). Alcohol consumption net benefits are doubtful and the factors influencing alcohol consumption in the LAC countries are not well documented. In this study, we...

The sensitivity of asset fixity conclusions, input adjustment rates, and elasticities to choice of functional form is examined using a dynamic dual model of U.S. agriculture. A very general initial specification allows tests of instantaneous adjustment to be performed for every input. Test...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the marketing performance of wheat farmers in Illinois and Kansas over 1982-2004. The results show that farmer benchmark prices for wheat in Illinois and Kansas fall in the middle-third of the price range about half to three-quarters of the time....

Existing literature predominantly assumes perfect knowledge of production methods when deriving optimal futures position hedging rules. This paper relaxes this assumption and recognizes situations where producers interested in hedging may not know the exact input mix that will subsequently be...

Liquidity costs in futures markets are not observed directly because bids and offers occur in an open outcry pit and are not recorded. Traditional estimation of these costs has focused on bidask spreads using transaction prices. However, the bid-ask spread only captures the tightness of the...

This study investigates the predictability of outlook hog price forecasts released by Iowa State University relative to alternative market and time-series forecasts. The findings suggest that predictive performance of the outlook hog price forecasts can be improved substantially. Under RMSE,...

The objective of this paper is to develop a portfolio optimization technique that is simple enough for an individual with little knowledge of economic theory to systematically determine his own optimized portfolio. A compromise programming approach and a fuzzy logic approach are developed as...

As a consequence of rapid structural change and new investment support scheme agricultural debts have increased and concentrated heavily in Finland. In addition, New Basel Accord (Basel II) regulating the bank business requires more in-depth credit risk assessment from banks. Therefore, there...

This study answers how profitability changes from a lender and borrower perspective. Using the FBFM data for periods from 1995 to 2004, we find that the variables that explain the profitability of a lender and borrower differ. Further, doing the regression according to categories, gives us...

The enforcement of contracts is necessary for efficient exchange in economic activities. The predominance in agriculture of informal contracts leads in many countries to the implementation of specific legal rules for contract law. This article emphasises the complementarities between public and...