Life Sciences Commons^™

Willingness To Pay For Irrigation Water Under Scarcity Conditions, Tyler Robert Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliance of Arkansas agricultural producers on groundwater for irrigation has led to depletion of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Without intervention, consequences include insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demand as well as drawdown of the deeper Sparta Aquifer, upon which communities in eastern Arkansas rely for non-agricultural use. Among proposed solutions to combat groundwater decline is the construction of off-farm surface water infrastructure to meet the irrigation needs of producers. Despite the importance of irrigated agriculture to Arkansas, there is little know about the economic value of irrigation water to producers. Thus, we implement a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent …

Query Theory Applications: Choice Experiments Under Oath, Attendance To Attributes, And Genetically Modified Food Labeling Policy, Nathan Paul Kemper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been an intensifying campaign by some stakeholders regarding concern over genetically modified (GM) foods in the U.S. As a result, the issue of labeling has entered into the federal agenda. This research uses Query Theory to provide a deeper understanding of the demand for GM foods and the preferences for GM policy. Query theory is first applied to the formation of hypothetical bias in the estimation of consumers’ willingness-to-pay. To address this, the honesty oath is used as an ex-ante technique to reduce hypothetical bias.

Paper one using Query Theory in a discrete-choice experiment (DCE) …

The Impact Of Climate Change In Bangladesh On The Rice Market And Farm Households, Mst Ashrafun Nahar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bangladesh is trying to achieve self-sufficiency in domestic rice production but climate change effects on agricultural production makes it challenging to attain the goal. The country is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change since it is the major cause to rise in sea level, more warm summer, and happening food and cyclone in the country.

This study develops an Aggregate Farm Household Model to analyze the impact of potential land loss and yield reduction from climate change on production, consumption, prices, welfare, and the ability of government to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. The model is calibrated to …

Evaluation Of Agricultural Policy In The Dairy Sector In Kosovo And Efficiency Analysis At The Farm Level, Egzon Bajrami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two studies on the dairy sector in Kosovo. The first study evaluates the effect of the Subsidy per Head Scheme (SPHS) on increasing production, land use, gross income and number of dairy cows on dairy farms in Kosovo. Results from the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach using four alternative matching algorithms revealed that SPHS has not had any impact on increasing land use, gross income or the number of dairy cows per farm. Furthermore, SPHS had a negative impact on decreasing land use and number of cows for the participating dairy farmers in the program. In …

The Impact Of Crop Insurance On Indonesian Rice Production, Zaura Fadhliani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study builds a theoretical model of the yield-based MPCI crop insurance policy for a risk averse rice farmer in Indonesia and presents the comparative statics analysis of policy variables on yield through the coupling, wealth, and insurance effects. Moreover, Using yield data from 1979 to 2014 for the Tuban Regency, this study applies numerical optimization to the model and simulates the effects of different policies on input use, certainty equivalents, indemnity payment, and premiums. The theoretical analysis shows that no coupling effect exists for change in the coverage level, while a coupling effect exists for change in the subsidy …

Spread Trading In Corn Futures Market, Ryan D. Napier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The non-linear relationship between old crop – new crop year spreads in corn futures market and stock-to-use (S-U) ratios published by the United States Department of Agriculture is analyzed. Using a non-linear logarithmic smooth transition regression (LSTR) model, we capture asymmetric market behaviors in high and low S-U regimes. Capturing this relationship and understanding the non-linear aspects of the relationship is of interest of grain merchandizers and speculators in the market. A spread trading strategy is simulated for the sample period, January 1985 through April 2015, to determine if the non-linear relationship is a profitable arbitrage opportunity in the market.

Consumer Willingness To Pay For Genetically Engineered Edamame, Elijah John Wolfe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of GM labeling on consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for edamame. It also investigated how people reacted to different messages and whether the order of receiving positive or negative information about GM technology impacted their willingness to pay (WTP). The study had three components: (1) a sensory test of GM and non-GM labeled products; (2) a non-hypothetical experimental auction to assess WTP for GM, non-GM and unlabeled products; and (3) a questionnaire to collect demographics and other information from the participants. Results of the sensory evaluation revealed no statistically significant difference between GM and non-GM …