Purchasing Patterns of Hog Producers: Implications for Rural Agribusinesses
Abstract: The consolidation of pork production into fewer and larger operations has implications for rural agribusinesses that have traditionally serviced producers. This study examines purchasing patterns of existing pork producers for production inputs by size o f operation. Distance traveled to purchase inputs and reasons for bypassing the nearest supplier are evaluated as are the characteristics of producers that are most likely to bypass a supplier. In general, producers with characteristics to be competitive in the pork industry are those most likely to bypass the local supplier.
Key Words and Phrases: Rural businesses, Pork production, Purchasing decisions.
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to better understand how technological change has contributed to structural change in the U.S. livestock industry. The paper presents a cross-sector analysis of the diffusion of improved breeding technolo gies and industry structure in poultry, swine, dairy and beef cattle. Patterns of technological change are reviewed and compared to the predictions of a standard model of technology diffusion. The results suggest the need for a more dynamic view of tech nology diffusion. The paper offers several specific observations about technological and structural change in this industry that have relevance for public policy.
Key Words and Phrases: Breeding technologies, U.S. livestock industry, Diffusion research, Cross-sector analysis, Structural change.
Abstract: Neural network models were compared to traditional forecasting methods in forecasting the quarterly and monthly farm price of hogs. A quarterly neural network model forecasted poorly in comparison to a quarterly econometric model. A monthly neural network model outperformed a monthly ARIMA model with respect to the mean square error criterion and performed similarly to the ARIMA model with respect to turning point accuracy. The more positive results of the monthly neural network model in comparison to the quarterly neural network model may be due to nonlinearities in the monthly data which are not in the quarterly data.
Key Words and Phrases: Forecasting, Hog prices, Neural networks, ARIMA, Econometric.
Abstract: This paper examines quality-price relationship in U.S. soybean exports. Implicit prices for quality characteristics of U.S. soybean exports were estimated using a hedonic price function from a rich transaction-specific data set to major destination markets to test the efficiency of the market in transmitting preferences for quality. The results of this analysis suggest that the price of soybean export shipments was not affected by the oil and protein content of the soybeans. Mois ture content was surprisingly found to positively affect price while foreign material reduced price after the 1989-1990 marketing year. These results are discussed for their implications for existing, and proposed changes to existing, soybean market regu lation.
Key Words and Phrases: Soybeans, Quality, Hedonic price analysis.
Abstract: The short-term effect of pesticide bans generally is less efficient production, with higher consumer prices. The higher commodity prices provide windfall profits to producers of affected crops who did not need the banned pesticide , while those producers who were previous users of the banned pesticide may gain or lose, depending on price elasticities of demand and supply. Increased imports may dampen consumer prices and reduce previous gains made by some producers. A crop-by-crop phase-out, based on economic effects in place of an immediate ban on all affected crops, could reduce the adverse effects on consumers, producers, and the balance of trade, while still achieving many of the human health and environmental benefits of a n immediate total ban of all pesticide uses on all crops. The soil fumigant, methyl bromide, is used to demonstrate the phase-out strategy.
Key Words and Phrases: Ban, Methyl bromide, Pesticide, Phase-out strategy, Soil fumigation.
Abstract: Octopus exports are an important source of foreign exchange earnings for Mauritania. The export market has historically been dominated by coordinated Japanese buyers, a situation that led Mauritania to create the Societe Mau ritanienne de Commercialisation de Poisson (SMCP) to negotiate with buyers and manage all octopus exports. Issues concerning competitiveness, price discrimination, and exchange rate pass-through in the Mauritanian octopus export market were empirically e xamined in this study using a seemingly unrelated regression model corrected for contemporaneous and serial correlation. Results indicate some degree of price discrimination across destination markets, market share enhancement through local currency pric e stabilization, and increases in marginal costs of production following nationalization of the Mauritanian trawler fleet. Thus, while creation of the SMCP did not result in the development of complete countervailing market power, Mauritania has managed to enhance the position of its octopus exports in the lucrative Japanese market.
Key Words and Phrases: International trade, Exchange rates, Imperfect competition, Octopus fisheries.
Abstract: In this paper, data from a 1992 telephone survey of Georgia residents were used to study people's willingness-to-pay (WTP) for water as a commodity. A dichotomous contingent valuation method was employed to estimate the marginal s carcity rent of water. Results indicated that the average WTP was $15.10 above the current monthly water cost, or about 81 percent of current bills. The aggregate WTP for all of Georgia was estimated to be nearly $393 million, suggesting that water is u nderpriced.
Key Words and Phrases: Dichotomous contingent valuation, Public water supply, Water pricing.
Abstract: Using stochastic dominance, this paper examines the adoption of the Conservation Compliance Program (CCP) in twelve Iowa soil types. Subsidies necessary to compensate producers for the increased risk of compliance strategies are estimated. Results indicate that to promote voluntary compliance with the CCP, the government should provide a subsidy of between $4.55 to $19.88 per acre, depending on the soil type.
Key Words and Phrases: Conservation compliance, Stochastic dominance, Adoption, Risk premium, Erosion.