Over the last decade, commodity prices have registered substantial booms and busts marked by extreme volatility. Wheat in particular, one of the main non-oil commodities, has registered a roller-coaster in price levels which seems to be inconsistent with supply and demand fundamentals. To...

Extreme poverty is an immense political and market failure, wasting the potential of hundreds of millions of people. Investing in the creation of markets that include the extreme poor and marginalized should thus not only be considered as a charitable activity, but promises high returns on...

Thesis for the degree of Master in Sustainable Local Development

The effects of alternative farm policies on the US wheat sector are similar despite quite different assumptions for the price elasticity of exports The goal of reducing the Federal cost of the 1985 wheat program directly conflics with the goal of maintaining farm income The article compares four...

This paper focuses on how farmers respond with respect to the adoption of soil conservation measures to governmental agricultural policies aiming at supporting smallholders. A simple micro-economic framework was chosen to undertake an analysis of farmer choices among three activities; farming,...

An assumption shared by most agricultural economists is that, as farm numbers decline in a democratic government, farm policy attention from rule-makers will decline as well. This assumption - despite important work to the contrary in institutional economics - is often voiced in federated...

This paper reports the results of a study of the economic content and the decision-making process of the recently adopted U.S. 1990 agricultural and food policy. It is the most comprehensive policy of its type. It represents the broadest participation of private individuals and interests groups,...