This study examines the impact of agriculture-specific and economywide institutional reform in Russia and Ukraine on the productivity and efficiency of agricultural production. Production in the agricultural sector in Russia and Ukraine has fallen since reforms began in 1992. The decline is to a...

Diverse needs and preferences across the United States provide justification for the devolution, or decentralization, of many Federal Government programs to the State or local level. The move toward devolution, however, has not been evidenced in U.S. agricultural policy, despite significant...

Recent changes in structure of the U.S. pork industry reflect, in many ways, past changes in the broiler industry. Production contracts and vertical integration in the broiler industry facilitated rapid adoption of new technology, improved quality control, assured market outlets for broilers,...

Market access remains a major impediment for expansion of global trade in high-value foods, particularly processed foods. Countries use tariffs and other measures that effectively stimulate imports of relatively unprocessed agricultural commodities at the expense of processed products. Tariff...

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a free trade area under negotiation among the United States and 33 countries in the Western Hemisphere, will progressively liberalize trade and investment in the region. It is scheduled to become effective by the end of 2005. The FTAA will lead to a...

Climate, topography, and water area are highly related to rural county population change over the past 25 years. A natural amenities index, derived and discussed here, captures much of this relationship. Average 1970-96 population change in nonmetropolitan counties was I percent among counties...

The supply of harvested crop residues as a feed stock for energy products is estimated in this report. The estimates account for economic and environmental factors governing residue supply. The supply results span major agricultural crops in four distinct cropping regions of the United States,...

Federal intervention in food labeling is often proposed with the aim of achieving a social goal such as improving human health and safety, mitigating environmental hazards, averting international trade disputes, or supporting domestic agricultural and food manufacturing industries. Economic...

In the past year, trade practices between fresh produce shippers and food retailers gained national attention. Shippers are concerned that recent retail consolidation has led to market power and the growing incidence of fees and services. Retailers argue that these new trade practices reflect...

Retail consolidation, technological change in production and marketing, and growing consumer demand for produce have altered the traditional market relationships between producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Increasingly, produce suppliers are asked to provide additional marketing services and...