摘要:

AbstractA measure of relative price variability among forty‐seven agricultural commodities is developed for the period 1962 to 1987. Econometric models are used to explore the effects of macroeconomic instability on relative price variability within the agricultural sector. The results show that these relative prices are more variable when actual and unanticipated inflation rates are higher. They may also be more variable during periods when real shocks to the macroeconomy are relatively large. Thus, monetary and fiscal events are not neutral with respect to the agricultural sector because macroeconomic instability appears to create instability and increased uncertainty in agricultural markets.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242984

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe bounded prices model under rational expectations is extended to a multimarket setting. Because the resulting rational expectations model is highly nonlinear, Fair and Taylor's iterative procedure is employed in conjunction with the multimarket framework to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of a supply‐demand model for corn and soybeans. The estimated model is then used to simulate the market equilibrium effects associated with removing price support and acreage set‐aside programs over the sample period. Among other things, the results reveal that acreage set‐asides have dominated the induced supply effects of price support programs for corn.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242985

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA method is presented for examining producer welfare impacts of a range of deregulation proposals, including a reduction in price support. Welfare impacts take account not just of expected transfer effects but of changes in the uncertain conditions facing producers. The method is applied to deregulation proposals for the Australian wheat industry. Results suggest producers would benefit under some proposals but be made worse off under others. Supply responses also are estimated and shown to be generally smaller in percentage terms than are short‐run welfare effects. It is argued that short‐run and long‐run welfare effects are similar.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242986

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractGovernments are postulated to maximize a political preference function in choosing two policy instruments: research expenditures (a productive policy) that improve social welfare and production subsidies (a predatory policy) that incur deadweight losses. Each policy affects the distribution of income between producers and consumers. Governments determine the optimal mix of policies, taking into account interaction effects between research and subsidy expenditures. In addition to providing an explanation for underinvestment in research, the paper determines conditions under which research and subsidy policies are complementary. Such conditions are shown to characterize U.S. agriculture. Underinvestment in research is therefore less severe than in some other countries.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242987

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe overall and distributional effects of farm programs and selected revisions are examined using a mathematical programming sector model. The model incorporates market distortions caused by price supports, target prices, program participation, deficiency payments and marketing loans. Current farm programs are found to increase producer prices, depress consumer prices, and in turn result in excess production and higher consumption and exports. Domestic and foreign consumers as well as domestic producers are subsidized by farm programs. Social deadweight loss occurs as government payments exceed welfare benefits received by consumers and producers. Society as a whole benefits from reductions in program provisions.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242988

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe impact of recent changes to the U.S. commodity program and efficacy of environmental regulations designed to discourage continuous corn rotations will depend upon the value farmers place on corn base acreage. This paper estimates this value by assuming that the benefits of access to the program are capitalized into farmland rents. Using Iowa rental survey data and a hedonic pricing approach, the rent gradient for base acreage is found to be on the order of $@@‐@@12 per acre. The discounted stream of returns to base acreage suggests an asset value for corn base of approximately $@@‐@@200 per acre.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242989

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA multiple‐policy‐instrument generalization of Gardner's surplus transformation curve analysis is applied to an empirical model of the EC wheat sector to compare welfare effects of policy change proposals. A production quota/support price combination is estimated as the most efficient means of making relatively small transfers from EC agriculture to consumers/taxpayers. A coresponsibility levy/support price combination is estimated as the most efficient means of making larger transfers. The importance of accounting for income transfer size, distortions in related markets, and the structure of markets when comparing welfare effects of policy change proposals is demonstrated.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242990

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA key problem in pesticide regulation is uncertainty about health risks. Trade‐offs between economic benefits and worker health safety are examined using an empirical illustration. Alternative decision rules for regulation under uncertainty are considered: a safety fixed rule, which protects individuals from excessive health risks, and uncertainty‐adjusted cost‐benefit analysis, which evaluates aggregate trade‐offs between health and economic welfare. These criteria may lead to opposite policy conclusions, suggesting that the most appropriate public policy is a safe minimum standard (SMS), which allows weighing of costs and benefits only after some minimum acceptable level of health safety has been assured.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242991

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis paper examines a pilot project of NAWMP that encourages farmers to promote or maintain waterfowl habitat by relying not only on economic incentives but on awareness, education, and moral suasion. The pilot project relies on farmers' attitudes to keep payments low because project payments substitute for grain program subsidies, thus constituting a transfer from Canadian taxpayers to U.S. contributors to NAWMP. A survey instrument and regression analysis are used to examine attitudes, economic incentives, and willingness to pay and willingness to accept compensation for modifying land use in order to conserve waterfowl habitat. The results indicate that current economic incentives offered to agricultural producers are inadequate because they ignore nonmarket costs, and that a positive attitude toward habitat preservation cannot be used as a substitute for monetary incentives.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242992

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractLarge farmers in the Third World often devote to cash crops a larger share of their land than do small farmers. This paper suggests a possible explanation: even in the presence of food markets, Third World farmers' food security is best assured by food self‐sufficiency. A model of crop portfolio choice under multivariate risk is used to show that reasonable assumptions regarding risk and preferences reproduce the observed pattern. Simulations further indicate that food market integration reduces the need for food self‐sufficiency. Policy implications are drawn regarding domestic trade liberalization and agricultural technology.

ISSN:0002-9092    

DOI:10.2307/1242993

出版商:Oxford University Press    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY