Consulta: creatorFacets:"Alston,   Julian M."
Registros recuperados: 85
Data/hora: 12/06/2024 01:20:07

Demand Enhancement through Food-Safety Regulation: Benefit-Cost Analysis of Collective Action in the California Pistachio Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Brunke,   Henrich; Gray,   Richard S.; Sumner,   Daniel A.
Food safety shocks can threaten the health of consumers, create havoc within an industry and result in severe losses to producers. Governments often attempt to enhance food safety by mandating standards and inspection of food products to supplement the voluntary efforts by private firms. This paper assesses a form of collective action that falls between typical government mandates and purely private action. The California pistachio industry recently established a U.S. federal marketing order. This order sets quality standards and requires inspection and certification, aiming to reduce the likelihood of dangerous or poor quality pistachios being sold to consumers and to provide some quality assurance to consumers. Simulation results indicate that, across...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food Safety; Collective Action; Specialty Crops; Government Regulation; Marketing Orders; Pistachios; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Q18; Q13; I18; H4.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25461

DOES BRANDED FOOD PRODUCT ADVERTISING HELP OR HURT FARMERS?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Zhang,   Mingxia; Sexton,   Richard J.; Alston,   Julian M.
A two-stage model is developed to study food processing firms' brand advertising and its welfare effects on farmers in a duopsony/duoploy setting.  In stage 1 firms compete to differentiate their products through brand advertising, and in stage 2 firms engage in quality competition.  Farmers may benefit or lose form brand advertising under alternative market conditions.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 1999
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21582

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE AUSTRALIA-U.S. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT FOR U.S. DAIRY MARKETS AND DOMESTIC DAIRY FARM PROGRAMS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Sumner,   Daniel A.; Balagtas,   Joseph Valdes; Brunke,   Henrich.
We develop a simulation model to analyze the effects on U.S. milk markets of an Australia-U.S. free trade agreement.  An important contribution to the literature is the derivation of explicit supply and demand relationships for milk components, which allows an analysis of long-term production, consumption, and trade patterns that is not tied to specific products.  Simulations indicate that increased imports from Australia, resulting from bilateral trade liberalization, would result in modest reductions in U.S. milk prices and production.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20164

INTERNATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL R&amp;D SPILLOVERS: ATTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AMONG SOURCES FOR BRAZIL'S NEW CROP VARIETIES
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.; Chan-Kang,   Connie; Magalhaes,   Eduardo Castelo; Vosti,   Stephen A.
In general, reported rates of return to agricultural R&amp;D are high, but questions have been raised about upward biases in the evidence.  Among the reasons for this bias, insufficient attention to attribution aspects-matching of research benefits and costs-is a pervasive problem, the magnitude of which is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil.  Over the period 1981 to 2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits attributable to research of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms; 6.1 percent of the corresponding value of crop output.  If all of those benefits were attributed to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half Brazil's agricultural R&amp;D spending, the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Brazil; Agricultural R&amp;D; Attribution; Soybeans; Rice; Beans; Benefit-cost ratios; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14422

Research returns redux: a meta-analysis of the returns to agricultural R&amp;D
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Marra,   Michele C.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Wyatt,   T.J.
A total of 289 studies of returns to agricultural R&amp;D were compiled and these provide 1821 estimates of rates of return. After removing statistical outliers and incomplete observations, across the remaining 1128 observations the estimated annual rates of return averaged 65 per cent overall — 80 per cent for research only, 80 per cent for extension only, and 47 per cent for research and extension combined. These averages reveal little meaningful information from a large body of literature, which provides rate‐of‐return estimates that are often not directly comparable. This study was aimed at trying to account for the differences. Several features of the methods used by research evaluators matter, in particular assumptions about lag lengths and the...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117834

WHO DETERMINES FARM PROGRAMS? AGRIBUSINESS AND THE MAKING OF FARM POLICY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Carter,   Colin A.; Wohlgenant,   Michael K.
Political-economic analyses of the causes and consequences of agricultural commodity policies typically emphasize farmer and consumer (taxpayer) interests and underplay the role of agribusiness. A more complete understanding of agricultural policy requires paying attention to the important role of agribusiness interests. Policies that benefit farmers (e.g., price supports, supply controls, deficiency payments) may either enhance or reduce agribusiness profits. The type of policy instrument preferred by agribusiness varies among commodities, depending on the technology of the marketing processes beyond the farm gate and the elasticity of final demand. This paper emphasizes the idea that instruments of farm policy are chosen in response to pressures from...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Farm programs; Farm policy; Agribusiness; Political economy; Agricultural and Food Policy.
Ano: 1989
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51252

Capital Use Intensity and Productivity Biases
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
This is a substantially revised version of “Capital Use Intensity and Productivity Biases.” Andersen, Matt A.; Alston, Julian M.; Pardey, Philip G., St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics; University of Minnesota, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP), 2007. (Staff paper P07-06; InSTePP paper 07-02)
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: U.S. agriculture; Pro-cyclical productivity; Capital utilization; Primal productivity bias; Productivity Analysis; D24; C51; Q1; O4; O47.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93143

Economic Consequences of Mandated Grading and Food Safety Assurance: Ex Ante Analysis of the Federal Marketing Order for California Pistachios
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Gray,   Richard S.; Sumner,   Daniel A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Brunke,   Henrich; Acquaye,   Albert K.A.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Marketing.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/11935

DOES BRANDED FOOD PRODUCT ADVERTISING HELP OR HURT FARMERS?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Zhang,   Mingxia; Sexton,   Richard J.; Alston,   Julian M.
This study investigates market conditions when food processor/handler brand advertising, whether undertaken by an investor-owned firm or by a cooperative, will benefit or harm farmers.  Addressing this question provides insight into the policy issue of whether and when promotion funds intended to benefit farmers should be used in support of brand advertising.  Analysis of a two-stage oligopoly-oligopsony model shows that advertising by an investor-owned firm is most likely to be harmful to farmers when it takes place in a relatively unconcentrated industry and when advertising is relatively more effective at creating brand market power than at increasing total demand.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/31131

Farm Commodity Policy and Obesity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Okrent,   Abigail M.
Many commentators have claimed that farm subsidies have contributed significantly to the “obesity epidemic” by making fattening foods relatively cheap and abundant and, symmetrically, that taxing “unhealthy” commodities or subsidizing “healthy” commodities would contribute to reducing obesity rates. This paper makes three contributions. First, we review evidence from the literature on the impacts on food consumption and obesity resulting from subsidies applied in the past to production or consumption of farm commodities. Second, we develop and present new arguments and preliminary evidence on the impacts of past government investments in agricultural R&amp;D on food consumption and obesity—through research-induced increases in agricultural productivity and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/53336

A DIFFERENTIATED GOODS MODEL OF THE EFFECTS OF EUROPEAN POLICIES IN INTERNATIONAL POULTRY MARKETS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Scobie,   Grant M.
The Common Agricultural Policy increases European poultry production costs, prohibits imports, increases domestic prices, and subsidizes exports. This policy has displaced some U.S. exports. However, the net impact in the U.S. has been quite modest, even assuming poultry is homogeneous, independent of source country. Costs to U.S. producers are almost entirely offset by gains to U.S. consumers. Effects in the U.S. are even smaller when imperfect substitutability between poultry from different countries is accounted for. A retaliatory U.S. export subsidy would have more dramatic effects in U.S. markets.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade.
Ano: 1987
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/29306

Theme Overview: Agricultural Productivity and Global Food Security in the Long Run
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Food Security and Poverty; Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93976

Assessing and Attributing the Benefits from Varietal Improvement Research in Brazil
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.; Chan-Kang,   Connie; Magalhaes,   Eduardo Castelo; Vosti,   Stephen A.
As the number and variety of interconnected sources of agricultural innovations have continued to grow and evolve, so too have the demands for meaningful evidence of both the total payoff and the specific impacts of individual research providers. Important policy and practical funding decisions require a clear understanding of the shares of the overall benefits from investments in R&amp;D attributable to domestic versus foreign and public versus private agencies, or even to individual agencies, as well as the total benefits accruing from innovation. This report provides a detailed economic assessment of the magnitude and sources of the economic benefits to Brazil since the early 1980s from varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and...
Tipo: Report
Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Research; Brazil; Economic aspects; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37894

Assessing Accuracy of Livestock Market Reporters: Some Evidence on Pigs in Victoria
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Nguyen,   S.T.; Tunstall,   Allan W.
This paper explores the hypothesis that livestock market reporters tend to err towards the middle of the actual range when estimating carcass weight and fat depth. Trial data for pigs support the hypothesis and indicate that reporters' estimates may be significantly biased in some extreme weight and fat classes even when the average errors taken across all classes are trivial. Significant distortions in the reported premiums or discounts between some fat and weight classes are implied by the errors in estimating fat and weight.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Land Economics/Use.
Ano: 1986
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12416

Farm Policy and Obesity in the United States
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Rickard,   Bradley J.; Okrent,   Abigail M.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; I18; Q18.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95750

ASSESSING AND ATTRIBUTING THE BENEFITS FROM VARIETAL IMPROVEMENT RESEARCH: EVIDENCE FROM EMBRAPA, BRAZIL
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.; Chan-Kang,   Connie; Magalhaes,   Eduardo Castelo; Vosti,   Stephen A.
In general, reported rates of return to agricultural R&amp;D are high, but questions have been raised about upward biases in the evidence. Among the reasons for this bias, insufficient attention to attribution aspects-matching of research benefits and costs-is a pervasive problem, the magnitude of which is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil. Over the period 1981 to 2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits attributable to research of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms; 6.1 percent of the corresponding value of crop output. If all of those benefits were attributed to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half Brazil's agricultural R&amp;D spending, the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Brazil; Agricultural R&amp;D; Attribution; Soybeans; Rice; Beans; Benefit-cost ratios; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16103

Mandated Marketing Programs For California Commodities
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lee,   Hyunok; Alston,   Julian M.; Carman,   Hoy F.; Sutton,   William R.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Marketing.
Ano: 1996
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/11919

The Effects of Agricultural Research and Farm Subsidy Policies on Human Nutrition and Obesity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Sumner,   Daniel A.; Vosti,   Stephen A.
Agricultural policies– including farm programs and R&amp;D– are said to have contributed to obesity by making food commodities cheaper and thereby encouraging consumption.  This paper explores the links from agricultural policy to food prices and consumption and suggests that contribution of agricultural policy to obesity is not so clear.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19196

Capital Service Flows: Concepts and Comparisons of Alternative Measures in U.S. Agriculture
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Measures of capital services are used in studies of production and to inform policies related to growth and development. A variety of methods have been used to measure capital stocks and service flows. In this study we review methods commonly used to measure capital service flows, and outline important assumptions used in constructing such measures. We examine two recently constructed data sets that measure capital inputs in U.S. agriculture. Substantial differences in the measures appear to have been caused by the use of a fixed real interest rate versus a variable real market interest rate to calculate capital services.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Capital measures; U.S. agriculture; State-level panel data; Agricultural and Food Policy; Agricultural Finance; Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50098

The Demand for Disaggregated Food-Away-from-Home Products
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Okrent,   Abigail M.; Alston,   Julian M.
Food away from home (FAFH) is an important component of the demand for food and hence, the nutritional intake of adults and children in the United States. Hence, policies designed to influence nutritional outcomes should address the role of FAFH. However, most studies of the response of demand for food to policy changes have ignored the role of FAFH, which means the estimates must be biased, while those studies that have included FAFH have treated it as a single good, giving rise to potential aggregation biases. In this study we estimate a demand system including a FAFH and alcoholic beverages composite (i.e., the aggregate of the three products modeled in the second stage), along with nine food at home (FAH) products (cereals and bakery products, dairy,...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food Demand; Food Away From Home (FAFH); Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; D12; Q11.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103625

Mendel versus Malthus: Research, Productivity and Food Prices in the Long Run
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Beddow,   Jason M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Over the past 50 years and longer, the supply of food commodities has grown faster than the effective market demand, in spite of increasing population and per capita incomes. Consequently, the real (deflated) prices of food commodities have steadily trended down. The past increases in agricultural productivity and production, and the resulting real price trends, are attributable in large part to technological changes enabled by investments in agricultural R&amp;D. Evidence is beginning to emerge of a slowdown in the long-term path of agricultural productivity growth. These productivity patterns mirror a progressive slowing down in the growth rate of total spending on agricultural R&amp;D and a redirection of the funds away from farm productivity that began...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; Productivity Analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/53400

Economic Theology and the Consumer Interest
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics.
Ano: 1988
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12573

The Returns to Promotion of Healthy Choices in Tasmania: Are You in the Dark about the Power of Mushrooms?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Parks,   Joanna C.
The Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) has recently developed a revised marketing strategy to promote mushrooms using messages based on scientific findings about the nutrition and health consequences of regularly incorporating mushrooms into meals. This article evaluates impacts based on a test-market experiment in Tasmania. We use a difference-in-differences econometric methodology to quantify the program-induced shifts in demand, and we use the resulting estimates in a supply and demand modeling framework to quantify the effects of promotion-induced demand shifts on prices, quantities, and measures of economic well-being. We estimate a conservative benefit-cost ratio for Tasmanian producers of 7.6:1 if they were to bear the entire cost and...
Tipo: Presentation
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/124359

RESEARCH RETURNS REDUX: A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RETURNS TO AGRICULTURAL R&amp;D
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Marra,   Michele C.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Wyatt,   T.J.
A total of 294 studies of returns to agricultural R&amp;D (including extension) were compiled and these studies provide 1,858 separate estimates of rates of return. This includes some extreme values, which are implausible. Then the highest and lowest 2.5 percent of the rates of return were set aside, the estimated annual rates of return averaged 73 percent overall—88 percent for research only, 45 percent for research and extension, and 79 percent for extension only. But these averages reveal little meaningful information from a large and diverse body of literature, which provides rate-of –return estimates that are often not directly comparable. The purpose of this study was to go behind the average, and try to account for the sources of differences, in a...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1998
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16056

Public Funding for Research into Specialty Crops
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Replaced with revised version of paper 08/14/07.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7312

Some Economic Implications of Minimum Pricing: The Case of Wine Grapes in Australia: Comment
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Smith,   Vincent H.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis.
Ano: 1983
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12450

Capital Use Intensity and Productivity Biases
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Measures of productivity growth are often pro-cyclical. This study focuses on measurement errors in capital inputs, associated with unobserved variations in capital utilization rates, as an explanation for the existence of pro-cyclical patterns in measures of agricultural productivity. Recently constructed national and state-specific indexes of inputs, outputs, and productivity in U.S. agriculture for 1949-2002 are used to estimate production functions in growth rate form that include proxy variables for changes in the utilization of durable inputs. The proxy variables include an index of farmers’ terms of trade and an index of local seasonal growing conditions. We find that utilization responses by farmers are significant and bias measures of productivity...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7314

The Effects of Farm Commodity Policies and Retail Food Policies on Obesity and Economic Welfare in the United States
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Okrent,   Abigail M.; Alston,   Julian M.
Replaced with revised version of paper 03/16/2011.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Obesity; Food Policy; Fat Taxes; Welfare; Market Model; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Q18; I18; H2.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61675

Supply and demand for commodity components: implications of free trade versus the AUSFTA for the US dairy industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Balagtas,   Joseph Valdes; Brunke,   Henrich; Sumner,   Daniel A.
During the negotiations on the Australia–US free trade agreement (AUSFTA), the US dairy industry vigorously opposed opening the US market to imports of Australian dairy products on the grounds that the US industry would be devastated. Subsequently, the agreement signed in February 2004 made an exception for dairy, providing for only limited quota expansion and no free trade, even at the end of the long implementation period. This paper presents a simulation model of world dairy markets, represented by supply and demand equations for fat and non-fat components of milk and manufactured dairy products. We use the model to analyse the effects on US milk markets of both a hypothetical agreement, allowing free bilateral trade in dairy products, and the actual...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Australia–US trade agreement; Components model; Dairy; International Relations/Trade; Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/116926

INSURANCE MILK
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Quilkey,   John J.
Where the production of milk for sale on the fresh milk market at 'controlled' prices is subject to nontransferable quotas the holders of quota who wish to maximise profits have a motive to maintain production above the quota level to insure against variations in demand for over-quota sales and yield. The concept of 'production of milk as insurance' is used to clarify the way in which such behaviour gives rise to social costs which could be avoided in a competitive market, by a permissive attitude to arbitrage, or where quotas can be traded.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 1980
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22914

The Shifting Global Patterns of Agricultural Productivity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Beddow,   Jason M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93977

Hidden harvest: U.S. benefits from international research aid
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.; Christian,   Jason E.; Fan,   Shenggen.
This report spells out the benefits to the United States from its partnership with the CGIAR.  Using wheat and rice to illustrate the gains from international research on important food crops, the report shows that U.S. investments in CGIAR wheat and rice research have paid off many times over for U.S. farmers
Tipo: Report
Palavras-chave: Agricultural assistance; American; Economic aspects; Developing countries; Agricultural research; Developing countries; Finance; Investments; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1996
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55649

Structural Changes in U.S. Agricultural Production and Productivity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: James,   Jennifer S.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Andersen,   Matthew A.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94313

CONSUMER DEMAND ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO GARP
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chalfant,   James A.
The nonparametric approach to consumer-demand analysis-based on revealed-preference axioms-is reviewed.  Particular attention is paid to questions of size and power of tests for consistency of data with the existence of a stable, well-behaved utility function that could have generated the data.  An application to Australian meat demand is used to show how these notions can be quantified and how prior information about elasticities, following Sakong and Hayes, may be used to increase the power of the approach.
Tipo: Journal Article
Ano: 1992
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28992

Financing agricultural R&amp;D in rich countries: what's happening and why
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Smith,   Vincent H.
Governments everywhere are trimming their support for agricultural R&amp;D, giving greater scrutiny to the support that they do provide, and reforming the public agencies that fund, oversee, and carry out the research. This represents a break from previous patterns, which had consisted of expansion in the public funds for agricultural R&amp;D. Private‐sector spending on agricultural research has slowed along with the growth of public spending in recent years, but the balance continues to shift towards the private sector. This article presents a quantitative review of these funding trends and the considerable institutional changes that have accompanied them. We discuss new data for 22 OECD countries, providing institutional details for five of these...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1998
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117222

The Demand for Food in the United States: A Review of the Literature, Evaluation of Previous Estimates, and Presentation of New Estimates of Demand
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Okrent,   Abigail M.; Alston,   Julian M.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61674

Asset Utilization and Bias in Measures of U.S. Agricultural Productivity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Andersen,   Matthew A.; Pardey,   Philip G.
A common observation is that measures of productivity growth are pro-cyclical, meaning they are higher (or grow faster) on average during periods of economic expansion than during periods of economic contraction. This study focuses on measurement errors related to capital inputs as an explanation for the existence of pro-cyclical patterns in measures of agricultural productivity.  Calculating a time series of capital inputs is difficult and prone to errors.  Myriad assumptions are required to construct a typical measure of the capital stock, and further, sometimes related, assumptions must be made about the utilization of the stock to derive a measure of capital service flows.  We test the hypothesis that unmeasured changes in the utilization of capital...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Financial Economics.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21220

A META-ANALYSIS OF RATES OF RETURN TO AGRICULTURAL R &amp; D: EX PEDE HERCULEM?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chan-Kang,   Connie; Marra,   Michele C.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Wyatt,   T.J.
Tipo: Report
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16535

Research Benefits in a Multimarket Setting: A Review
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
The literature on measuring the size and distribution of returns to research has paid increasing attention of late to questions that require a multimarket framework. These questions include the distribution of benefits among stages of a multistage process or among factors of production (i.e. the vertical incidence) and the distribution across different markets either for the same product in different places or for different products (the horizontal incidence). The latter may be regarded as including quality change which has attracted recent attention. In much of the literature, a linear elasticity modeling approach has been used to obtain measures of the consequences of research-induced supply shifts for prices and quantities which, in turn, are used to...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1991
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12462

Levy-funded research choices by producers and society
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Freebairn,   John W.; James,   Jennifer S.
Commodity levies are used increasingly to fund producer collective goods such as research and promotion. In the present paper we examine theoretical relationships between producer and national benefits from levy‐funded research, and consider the implications for the appropriate rates of matching government grants, applied with a view to achieving a closer match between producer and national interests. In many cases the producer and national optima coincide. First, regardless of the form of the supply shift, when product demand is perfectly elastic, or all the product is exported, domestic benefits and costs of levy‐funded research all go to producers and they have appropriate incentives. Second, if research causes a parallel supply shift, the producer...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117861

Taxes and quality: A market-level analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: James,   Jennifer S.; Alston,   Julian M.
Aconventional assumption of product homogeneity when the commodity of interest is actually heterogeneous will lead to errors in an analysis of the incidence of policies, such as taxes. In this article, an equilibrium displacement model is used to derive analytical solutions for price, quantity, and quality effects of ad valorem and per unit taxes. The results show how parameters determine the effects of tax policies on quality. The potential for tax-induced distortions in quality, and the distributive consequences of those distortions, are illustrated in a case study of the market for Australian wine.
Tipo: Article
Palavras-chave: Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/118623

Consequences of Deregulation in the Victorian Egg Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
There has been much discussion in recent times of alternative proposals for reform of egg industry regulations. This paper aims to describe, analyse and measure the effects of possible changes to egg industry regulations in Victoria. The conclusion is that there are significant potential net benefits to Victorians from eliminating hen quotas and arrangements for fixing egg prices. The significant losses to each of a small number of producers would be more than offset by the small benefits to each of a large number of consumers. The majority of these net benefits could be obtained, alternatively, by allowing free transferability of quota rather than eliminating quota; but then the benefits would all accrue to quota owners.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 1986
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12420

STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT IN OECD AGRICULTURE: GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND TECHNICAL CHANGE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chalfant,   James A.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1993
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14473

The Impact on the Australian Lamb Industry of Producing Larger Leaner Lamb
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mullen,   John D.; Alston,   Julian M.
An equilibrium displacement model of the Australian lamb industry was used to estimate the changes in economic surplus to the producers, processors and consumers of lamb from an increase in the proportion of total production meeting the criteria for Elite lamb. This change in the nature of the product has implications for consumer demand and for processing and production costs. Estimates of the expected changes in these demand and supply parameters are presented in the paper. The potential demand shift was estimated to be much larger than the changes in production and processing costs and consequently was most influential in determining the extent of the benefits from the change in technology.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 1995
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12399

The California Prune Board's Promotion Program: An Evaluation
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Carman,   Hoy F.; Chalfant,   James A.; Crespi,   John M.; Sexton,   Richard J.; Venner,   Raymond J.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 1998
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/11926

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE POLICY: CHANGING GLOBAL AGENDAS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Taylor,   Michael J.
Tipo: Report
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2001
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16588

INTERNATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL R&amp;D SPILLOVERS: ATTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AMONG SOURCES FOR BRAZIL'S NEW CROP VARIETIES
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Chan-Kang,   Connie; Magalhaes,   Eduardo Castelo; Vosti,   Stephen A.
In general, reported rates of return to agricultural R&amp;D are high, but questions have been raised about upward biases in the evidence.  Among the reasons for this bias, insufficient attention to attribution aspects-matching of research benefits and costs-is a pervasive problem, the magnitude of which is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil.  Over the period 1981 to 2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits attributable to research of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms; 6.1 percent of the corresponding value of crop output.  If all of those benefits were attributed to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half Brazil's agricultural R&amp;D spending, the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Brazil; Agricultural R&amp;D; Attribution; Soybeans; Rice; Beans; Benefit-cost ratios; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14017

Are Agricultural Policies Making Us Fat? Likely Links Between Agricultural Policies and Human Nutrition and Obesity, and their Policy Implications
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Sumner,   Daniel A.; Vosti,   Stephen A.
Rates of obesity among adults and children in the U.S. are soaring, with potentially huge private and social costs. Increasing attention is being paid to agricultural policies as both the culprits through their perceived roles in reducing the relative prices of energy-dense foods, and as the potential saviors through their perceived ability to do the opposite. However, the effects of agricultural policies on human nutrition and obesity are not well understood. This paper considers (1) trends in agricultural commodity prices, and the contributions of commodity policies and agricultural R&amp;D policies to those trends, (2) the links between changes in commodity prices and changes in food prices; and (3) the implications of price-induced changes in food...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: H5; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Q18; Q16; I0.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25343

A COMPARISON OF CAPITAL MEASURES IN U.S. AGRICULTURE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.
This study compares two panel data sets that measure capital input at the state-level in U.S. agriculture. Despite a number of similarities between the data sets, such as the composition of assets, aggregation procedures, and time frame, an examination of the final estimates of capital service flows reveals that they are drastically different for all 48 contiguous states. We examine the methods used to construct the capital series for each data set, consider some important differences in data sources and the types of data used to construct the capital measures, and outline the main assumptions concerning depreciation, service lives, interest rates, aggregation, and the scope of goods included in each of the data sets. The analysis indicates that an...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20153

Capital Services in U.S. Agriculture: Concepts, Comparisons, and the Treatment of Interest Rates
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
This is a substantially revised version of “Capital Service Flows: Concepts and Comparisons of Alternative Measures in U.S. Agriculture.” Andersen, Matt A.; Alston, Julian M.; Pardey, Philip G., St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics; University of Minnesota, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP), 2009. (Staff paper P09-8; InSTePP paper 09-03)
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agricultural Finance.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92801

Generic advertising without supply control: implications of funding mechanisms for advertising intensities in competitive industries
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Freebairn,   John W.; Alston,   Julian M.
Producer profit‐maximising rules for generic commodity advertising programs and associated funding levies are derived. Lump‐sum, per unit and ad valorem levies, and government subsidy funding arrangements are compared and contrasted. The initial single‐product competitive market model is extended to incorporate international trade, government price policies, and multiple commodity interactions.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 2001
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117385

Industry-mandated testing to improve food safety: the new US marketing order for pistachios
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Brunke,   Henrich; Alston,   Julian M.; Gray,   Richard S.; Sumner,   Daniel A.
Food safety shocks can threaten the health of consumers, create havoc within an industry and result in severe losses to producers. Governments often attempt to aid food safety by mandating standards and inspection of food products to supplement the efforts by private firms and industries. This article assesses a form of collective action that falls between typical government mandates and purely private action. The California pistachio industry recently established a U.S. federal marketing order, which sets quality standards and inspection to reduce the likelihood of dangerous or poor quality pistachios. Simulation results indicate that, across the full range of parameters used in the analysis, the benefit-cost analysis was always favorable to the new...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Food safety; Food scare; Collective action; Marketing orders; Pistachios; Public good; Food regulations; Cost-benefit analysis; Agribusiness; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/97502

Producer Price Equalization
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Freebairn,   John W.
Most previous studies of home consumption pricing and producer price equalisation schemes have concentrated on static economic surplus effects under an assumption of a perfectly elastic export demand. This paper compares the effects of different types of producer price equalisation schemes with free trade in the wheat, milk and egg industries allowing for a downward sloping export demand. Average values and variances of prices, quantities, revenues, and economic surplus measures are estimated for each policy in a simulation model allowing a range of values for elasticities of supply and demand, market shares, and variability of supply and export demand. The stabilisation effects of equalisation schemes are evaluated using these estimates.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Consumer/Household Economics.
Ano: 1988
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12270

Agricultural R&amp;D Policy: A Tragedy of the International Commons
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: James,   Jennifer S.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.
Replaced with revised version of paper 07/10/09.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43094

THE PAYOFFS TO AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EVIDENCE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Marra,   Michele C.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.
Transgenic crops are relatively new technologies being adopted rapidly in the United States and in a few other countries. The economic impacts of these technologies have, thus far, been estimated in a piecemeal fashion. The purpose of this study was to collect and characterize the economic evidence available to date, organize it, and determine if any general implications can be drawn from it. The general classes of economic impacts at the farm level are discussed. The types of studies that generate estimates of these benefits are also characterized and categorized in terms of the implications for measuring economic impacts when the set of things held constant in the type of study does not correspond to those that economic theory suggests. The evidence is...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Transgenic biotechnologies; Economic rates of return; Productivity; Impact assessment; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16093

THE RETURNS TO INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH ON AUSTRALIAN WOOL PRODUCTION
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Scobie,   Grant M.; Mullen,   John D.; Alston,   Julian M.
A production function approach is used to estimate growth in farm productivity in the Australian wool industry from an estimated level of expenditure on wool production R &amp; D. A market equilibrium model of the wool industry is then used to measure the share of total benefits from this productivity growth accruing to Australia and its wool growers. A net return is estimated after allowing for lags in the development and adoption of technology.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Production Economics; Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 1991
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22764

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF MANDATED GRADING AND TESTING TO AVOID A NEGATIVE FOOD SAFETY EVENT: EX ANTE ANALYSIS OF THE FEDERAL MARKETING ORDER FOR PISTACHIOS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Gray,   Richard S.; Sumner,   Daniel A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Brunke,   Henrich.
The California pistachio industry led an initiative to establish a federal marketing order, which mandates quality standards and an inspection program to assure food safety and consistency in the quality of California pistachios.  We develop a stochastic dynamic simulation model of the pistachio market to investigate quantitatively the likely effects of such collective action enforced by government mandates.  Simulation results indicate that, across the full range of parameters used in the analysis, the benefit-cost analysis was always favorable to the proposed policy.  The measured benefits to producers, the nation, or the world always well exceeded the corresponding measure of costs, typically by many times.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20031

CAN WE TAKE THE CON OUT OF MEAT DEMAND STUDIES?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chalfant,   James A.
Whimsy in specification choices leads to fragility of inference in econometric studies of structural change in meat demand. The literature contains a variety of results, with many contradictions, attributable largely to differences in specifications. This article reviews that literature, uses synthetic data to demonstrate the sensitivity of results to specification choices and to evaluate the power of nonparametric tests, and uses Canadian data to demonstrate a preferred approach to testing the hypothesis of structural change.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis.
Ano: 1991
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/32618

WHEAT DISPUTES UNDER NAFTA
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Gray,   Richard S.; Sumner,   Daniel A.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade.
Ano: 2001
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16842

The Benefits and Costs of Alternative Policies for the Management of Pierce's Disease: A Case Study of the Blue-Green Sharpshooter in the Napa Valley
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fuller,   Kate B.; Alston,   Julian M.; Sanchirico,   James N.
Replaced with revised version of poster on 07/23/10.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Production Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61424

Spatial Externalities and Vector-Borne Plant Diseases:   Pierce’s Disease and the Blue-Green Sharpshooter in the Napa Valley
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fuller,   Kate B.; Alston,   Julian M.; Sanchirico,   James N.
Pierce’s Disease (PD) is a bacterial disease that can kill grapevines over a span of one to three years.  In this paper, we examine and model PD and vector control decisions made at the vineyard level in the Napa Valley in an effort to understand how the pest and disease affect individual growers, and to examine spatial externality issues and potential benefits from cooperation between adjacent vineyards.  The model that we created adds to the literature by (a) treating grape vines as capital stocks that take time to reach bearing age and thus cannot be immediately replaced in the event of becoming diseased.  We also (b) relax the assumption of an interior solution by examining the boundaries of parameter space for which winegrape growing is profitable and...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Pierce’s Disease; Winegrapes; Perennial crop modeling; Agricultural pests and diseases; Optimal control theory; Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q12; Q24; C61.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103865

Optimal Reserve and Export Policies for the California Almond Industry : Theory, Econometrics, and Simulations
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Carman,   Hoy F.; Christian,   Jason E.; Dorfman,   Jeffrey H.; Murua,   Juan-Ramon; Sexton,   Richard J.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; International Relations/Trade.
Ano: 1997
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/11937

The California Table Grape Commission's Promotion Program: An Evaluation
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chalfant,   James A.; Christian,   Jason E.; Meng,   Erika C.H.; Piggott,   Nicholas E.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries; Marketing.
Ano: 1997
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/11932

A Note on Victoria's Hen Quota Transfer System
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
Hen quotas were virtually freely transferable within Victoria when they were first introduced in 1975. The 1980's have witnessed a series of changes to regulations over quota transfers. Initially these changes were components of a plan to phase out quotas but that is no longer on the policy agenda. Quotas remain but without the advantages of free transferability.  It is well established that restrictions on quota transfers in general lead to production inefficiencies. Another undesirable side-effect is that the value of quota and magnitude of quota rent are more difficult to measure when quota transfers are restricted, adding to the difficulties of assessing the effects of the regulations. In the Victorian egg industry these general problems are confounded...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy.
Ano: 1986
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12419

A Note on the Effects of Non-Transferable Quotas on Supply Functions
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
Marketing systems using non-transferable or imperfectly transferable quotas induce shifts in supply as well as shifts along supply functions. There are social costs associated with these shifts which are additional to those normally recognised in the literature. To reduce the size of the shifts in supply and the social costs, quotas should he efficiently transferable.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 1981
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12238

STATE TRADING VERSUS EXPORT SUBSIDIES:  THE CASE OF CANADIAN WHEAT
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Gray,   Richard S.
Canada and the United States have used different trade policies to support their wheat industries. Canada conferred sole export powers to the Canadian Wheat Board, allowing it to price discriminate among markets. The U.S. government has funded transfers to its wheat producers from taxpayers, instead, through export subsidies. This study compares these two ways of supporting producers in terms of their transfer efficiency and overall deadweight losses, the incidence on different domestic interest groups, and their consequences for third party traders. In the analysis we consider the implications of market power of wheat marketing firms for the comparison of policy alternatives in the context of the Canadian wheat industry.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/30834

Consequences of Deregulation in Victorian Egg Industry: a reply
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.
Ano: 1986
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12582

The Effects of the Food Stamp Program on Energy Balance and Obesity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Parks,   Joanna C.; Smith,   Aaron D.; Alston,   Julian M.
The Effects of the Food Stamp Program on Energy Balance and Obesity
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food Stamp Program (FSP); Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Obesity; Body mass index (BMI); Nutrition assistance; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Q18; H53; I12; I18; I38.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/100692

An Ex Ante Analysis of the Benefits from the Adoption of Corn Rootworm Resistant, Transgenic Corn Technology
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Hyde,   Jeffrey; Marra,   Michele C.; Mitchell,   Paul D.
This study examined the potential economic impacts in the United States of the commercial adoption of a corn rootworm (CRW) resistant transgenic corn. Using a counterfactual approach, we estimated that if the technology had been made available in the year 2000 at a price that would equate per acre costs to those for insecticide-based corn rootworm control, and adopted on all of the acres treated for corn rootworm in that year, the total benefits would have been $460 million. This benefit includes $171 million to the technology developer and seed companies, $231 million to farmers from yield gains, and a further $58 million to farmers from reduced risk, time savings, and other nonpecuniary benefits associated with reduced use of insecticides. This is a...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/57828

WEAK SEPARABILITY AND A TEST FOR THE SPECIFICATION OF INCOME IN DEMAND MODELS WITH AN APPLICATION TO THE DEMAND FOR MEAT IN AUSTRALIA
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Chalfant,   James A.
Most studies of the demand for meat in Australia have used some measure of total income or expenditure, but two recent studies have assumed weak separability of a meat group and used expenditure on the meat group instead. These specification differences are of interest to the extent that they affect the economic interpretation, goodness-of-fit, elasticity estimates, predictive performance or hypothesis tests in empirical demand equations. In this paper, non-nested hypothesis testing procedures are used to test the alternative specifications of the income variable and the hypothesis of separability. The results favour the use of the expenditure variable implied by separability but are mixed concerning whether separability holds.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis.
Ano: 1987
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22578

The Effects of the Food Stamp Program on Energy Balance and Obesity
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Parks,   Joanna C.; Smith,   Aaron D.; Alston,   Julian M.
The Food Stamp Program (FSP) administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the cornerstone of the U.S. federal income and food safety net policy. The FSP has subsidized the food budget for millions of American households for over forty years, spending more than $60 billion per year in recent times. Prior research has demonstrated that women who participate in the FSP are more likely to be overweight or obese than eligible non-participants. This finding raises the concern that the additional income provided by FSP benefits induces participants to eat significantly more calories and gain weight, contributing to the U.S. obesity epidemic. Previous studies of the FSP have yielded mixed results. In this study we develop new conceptual and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food Stamp Program (FSP); Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Obesity; Body mass index (BMI); Nutrition assistance; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Health Economics and Policy; Q18; H53; I12; I18; I38.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103537

Perspectives on Farm Policy Reform
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Sumner,   Daniel A.
This article begins with a review of what has happened to U.S. domestic farm policies and related agricultural trade policies over the past 10 years. We conclude this review with a brief overview of the policies as they stand today. Then we consider potential outcomes in the 2007 Farm Bill, and their implications for U.S. agriculture and, in particular, for agriculture in the Western states. Finally, we contemplate the longer-term possibilities for meaningful, enduring reform of U.S. farm program policies.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: 2007 Farm Bill; U.S. farm policy; WTO; Agricultural and Food Policy.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/8594

FINANCING AGRICULTURAL R&amp;D IN RICH COUNTRIES: WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Smith,   Vincent H.
Governments everywhere are trimming their support for agricultural R&amp;D, giving greater scrutiny to the support that they do provide, and reforming the public agencies that fund, oversee, and carry out the research. This represents a break from previous patterns, which had consisted of expansion in the public funds for agricultural R&amp;D. Private-sector spending on agricultural research has slowed along with the growth of public spending in recent years, but the balance continues to shift towards the private sector. This article presents a quantitative review of these funding trends and the considerable institutional changes that have accompanied them. We discuss new data for 22 OECD countries, providing institutional details for five of these...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1997
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16096

THE EFFECTS OF THE U.S. PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT ON WHEAT GENETIC IMPROVEMENT
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Venner,   Raymond J.
The U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) of 1970 was meant to strengthen intellectual property protection for plant breeders. A model of investment under partial excludability is developed, leading to the hypotheses that any increase in excludability or appropriability of the returns to invention, attributable to the PVPA, would lead to increases in investment or efficiency gains in varietal R&amp;D, improved varietal quality, and enhanced royalties. These hypotheses are tested in an economic analysis of the effects of the PVPA on wheat genetic improvement. The PVPA appears to have contributed to increases in public expenditures on wheat variety improvement, but private-sector investment in wheat breeding does not appear to have increased. Moreover,...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Intellectual property rights; Wheat; Genetic improvement; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16059

A MODEL OF SUPPLY RESPONSE IN THE AUSTRALIAN ORANGE GROWING INDUSTRY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Freebairn,   John W.; Quilkey,   John J.
A model of the Australian orange growing industry to explain changes in plantings, removals, the number and age composition of trees and orange production is developed and estimated. Most of the variation in plantings is explained by the expected profitability of growing oranges, the current stocks of bearing and nonbearing trees, and removals of trees last year. Estimates of the elasticities of response of plantings and production to price changes are low and there are long time lags. An illustrative application of the model projects future developments in the industry for alternative assumptions about the profitability of growing oranges.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; Productivity Analysis.
Ano: 1980
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22911

The Economic Returns to U.S. Public Agricultural Research
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Andersen,   Matthew A.; James,   Jennifer S.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Replaced with revised version of paper 07/22/11.  Former Title:  Revisiting the Returns to U.S. Public Agricultural Research: New Measures, Models, Results, and Interpretation
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Spatial technology spillovers; Knowledge stocks; R&amp;D lags; Public agricultural R&amp;D; U.S. states; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95522

FACTOR PRICE EQUALISATION AMONG INTERNATIONAL FARMLAND MARKETS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Johnson,   Paul R.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Marketing.
Ano: 1988
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22958

Quantifying Obesity in Economic Research: How Misleading is the Body Mass Index?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Parks,   Joanna C.; Smith,   Aaron D.; Alston,   Julian M.
Replaced with revised version of paper 07/19/10.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Obesity; Percent body fat (PBF); Body mass index (BMI); Economic costs; Measurement error; Health Economics and Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; C52; I10.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61841

ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND SCOPE, AND THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF CHINA'S AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Jin,   Songqing; Alston,   Julian M.; Rozelle,   Scott; Huang,   Jikun.
Faced with the task of reorganizing the largest agricultural research system in the world, officials in China are developing a strategy for reform.  This paper investigates economies of scale and scope and other potential sources of improvements in the economic efficiency of crop breeding, an industry at the heart of the nation's food economy.  Using a panel data set covering 46 wheat and maize breeding institutes from 1981 to 2000, we estimate both single output and multiple output cost functions for the production of new varieties at China's wheat and maize breeding institutes.  Our descriptive and analytical results indicate strong economies of scale, along with small to moderate economies of scope related to the joint production of new wheat and maize...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Industrial Organization.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22088

REVAMPING AGRICULTURAL R&amp;D
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pardey,   Philip G.; Alston,   Julian M.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1995
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16326

Spillovers
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.
Interstate and international spillovers from public agricultural research and development (R&amp;D) investments account for a significant share of agricultural productivitygrowth. Hence, spillovers of agricultural R&amp;D results across geopolitical boundaries have implications for measures of research impacts on productivity, and the implied rates of return to research, as well as for state, national and international agricultural research policy. In studies of aggregate state or national agricultural productivity, interstate or international R&amp;D spillovers might account for half or more of the total measured productivitygrowth. Similarly, results from studies of particular crop technologies indicate that international technology spillovers, and...
Tipo: Article
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/118618

DYNAMICS IN THE CREATION AND DEPRECIATION OF KNOWLEDGE, AND THE RETURNS TO RESEARCH
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Craig,   Barbara J.; Pardey,   Philip G.
Econometric studies of the effects of research on productivity have typically imposed arbitrary restrictions on the length and shape of the R&amp;D on productivity and the estimated rate of return to research. This paper argues that the useful stock of public knowledge depreciates, if at all, only gradually, and we use this notion to develop a new model, which we test using data on aggregate U.S. agriculture. We reject the conventional specification in favor of a more flexible, dynamic, alternative model, in which the impact of R&amp;D on productivity lasts much longer than in previous studies. Consequently, the real, marginal rate of return to public agricultural  R&amp;D in the United States is estimated to be less than 10 percent per annum, much smaller...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1998
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/16102

Splendide Mendax: False Label Claims about High and Rising Alcohol Content of Wine
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Fuller,   Kate B.; Lapsley,   James T.; Soleas,   George; Tumber,   Kabir P.
Many economists and others are interested in the phenomenon of rising alcohol content of wine and its potential causes.  Has the alcohol content of wine risen—and if so, by how much, where, and when?  What roles have been played by climate change and other environmental factors compared with evolving consumer preferences and expert ratings?  In this paper we explore these questions using international evidence, combining time-series data on the alcohol content of wine from a large number of countries that experienced different patterns of climate change and influences of policy and demand shifts.  We also examine the relationship between the actual alcohol content of wine and the alcohol content stated on the label.  The systematic patterns here suggest...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Wine grapes; Alcohol percentage; Climate change; Labeling errors; Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Marketing.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103845

THE IMPACT OF FARM AND PROCESSING RESEARCH ON THE AUSTRALIAN WOOL INDUSTRY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mullen,   John D.; Alston,   Julian M.; Wohlgenant,   Michael K.
An equilibrium displacement model of the world wool top industry is used to estimate the returns to the Australian wool industry from productivity improvements in farm production, in top making and in textile manufacturing. The returns to the industry from these different types of research and development are sensitive to the extent of substitution possibilities between Australian wool and other inputs used by the wool processing and textile industries but it appears that research resources have to be much more efficient in off-farm activities for the Australian wool industry to receive benefits similar to those from farm research activities.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Livestock Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 1989
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22640

Research Lags Revisited: Concepts and Evidence from U.S. Agriculture
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.; Ruttan,   Vernon W.
Many researchers and commentators underestimate the length and importance of the time lags between initial research investment and ultimate impacts on the development and adoption of technological innovations. In both econometric studies of productivity and ex post and ex ante benefit-cost evaluations of research investments, researchers typically impose untested assumptions about the R&amp;D lag, which can have profound implications for the results. In this paper we present a range of evidence on agricultural R&amp;D lags including both aggregative analysis of U.S. agricultural productivity using time series data, and some specific details on the timelines for the research, development, and adoption processes for particular mechanical and biological...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50091