Abstract: Both federal and state governments in the United States are being asked to enact laws that would make slaughtering of horses for human consumption illegal. In the past, the United States was one of the principal exporters of horsemeat to Europe. This paper examines the impacts of a proposed ban on the U.S. horse industry and the U.S. export market for horsemeat. Findings indicate a loss of approximately $300 per horse in the United States as a result of such a ban. The supply of U.S. exported horsemeat has declined during the past decade. The results suggest that the most significant factors influencing this decline are lower real prices and competing imports.
Key Words: horse slaughter, horsemeat, meat exports
Contact Author:
DeeVon Bailey
Department of Economics
Business Bldg., Room 606
3530 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-3530
Phone: (435) 797-2310
Fax: (435) 797-2701
Abstract: On December 23, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that the United States Department of Agriculture had diagnosed the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as "mad cow disease." This study uses supermarket sales data to analyze the effect of the BSE announcement on U.S. retail beef sales, finding a statistically significant disruption of sales. In addition, we develop a forecast of retail beef sales revenues in the hypothetical absence of BSE. The forecast implies that the BSE announcement may have reduced domestic retail beef revenues in excess of $10 billion in the post-BSE period.
Key Words: ARIMA models, BSE, mad cow disease, U.S. retail beef sales
Contact Author:
Christian S. L. Crowley
Department of Economics
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
Phone: (202) 994-6150
Fax: (202) 994-6147
Abstract: This study estimates the elasticities of wholesale food prices, cost efficiency, and market power with respect to industrial concentration in 35 food processing industries, modifying the model of Lopez, Azzam, and Lirón-España (2002). In contrast to the results of their earlier analysis, findings of this study indicate that further increases in concentration would result in significant processing cost savings (and Lerner index increases) in nearly all industries and that output prices would decline in nearly 50% of the industries, although significantly so in only 20% of them. As industrial concentration rises, price declines occur in industries with low levels of concentration while price increases occur in highly concentrated industries.
Key Words: cost efficiency, food prices, food processing, industrial concentration, market power
Contact Author:
Rigoberto A. Lopez
Dept. of Agricultural & Resource Economics
WB Young 318
1376 Storrs Road, Unit 4021
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-4021
Phone: (860) 486-1921
Fax: (860) 486-1932
Abstract: Agribusiness is moving from farm to market centric, where effective activities anticipate and respond to customers, markets, and the systems in which they function. This evolution requires a broader conceptualization and more accurate definition, to convey a more dynamic, systemic, and integrative discipline, which increasingly is committed to value creation and the sustainable orchestration of food, fiber, and renewable resources. We discuss the forces driving this shift to the market, offer a new and more representative definition of agribusiness, provide models to illustrate some of the most compelling trends, and articulate key elements and implications of those models.
Key Words: agribusiness definition, conceptual models, market centric, market systems
Contact Author:
Mark R. Edwards
Morrison School of Agribusiness & Resource Management
Arizona State University East
7001 E. Williams Field Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85212
Phone: (480) 966-2996
Fax: (480) 727-1225
Abstract: The qualitative research paradigm, although occasionally applied, is not widely discussed in agribusiness and agricultural economics literature. The primary goals of this paper are (a) to present insights into qualitative research approaches and processes by outlining grounded theory as an example of a systematic and rigorous qualitative approach, and (b) to discuss criteria for scientific rigor applicable to qualitative research. In addition, assessing qualitative research is demonstrated by using a published example.
Key Words: management research, methodology, qualitative research methods, reliability, validity
Contact Author:
Vera Bitsch
Dept. of Agricultural Economics
306 Agriculture Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1039
Phone: (517) 353-9192
Fax: (517) 432-1800
Abstract: An evolving produce industry has placed vegetable growers in northern Colorado at a competitive disadvantage. The Colorado producers' strategic response is to form a value-added, cold storage processing cooperative in the hopes of establishing a better position for marketing their vegetables on a year-round basis. This case study discusses the results of both a market demand and processing feasibility study conducted for these vegetable growers.
Key Words: cooperative, feasibility study, vegetable processing plant
Contact Author:
Susan Hine
Dept. of Agricultural & Resource Economics
Clark Hall
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80512-1172
Phone: (970) 491-7370
Fax: (970) 491-2067