Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Agricultural and Resource Economics

Selected Works

Ethanol

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards Jul 2016

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …


Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards Jul 2016

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …


Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards Jul 2016

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …


Structural Shifts In Agricultural Markets Caused By Government Mandates: Ethanol And The Renewable Fuels Standard, John Olson Dec 2015

Structural Shifts In Agricultural Markets Caused By Government Mandates: Ethanol And The Renewable Fuels Standard, John Olson

John Olson

For many decades, demand for agricultural commodities has remained stagnant and its growth has been limited. In contrast, agricultural production continues to become ever more efficient by increasing output for stable or decreased inputs. Long-run profits have historically been near zero due to an ongoing relative equilibrium. But recent U.S. energy policy has changed to include a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), the goal of which is to boost domestic energy independence in an environmentally sound way. Most of the RFS in the near-term relies on the production of 15 billion gallons of ethanol made from corn. This has the effect …


Powering America: The Impact Of Ethanol Production In The Corn Belt States, Luisa Blanco, Michelle Isenhouer Sep 2015

Powering America: The Impact Of Ethanol Production In The Corn Belt States, Luisa Blanco, Michelle Isenhouer

Luisa Blanco

This paper investigates the impact of ethanol production in the Corn Belt states (Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). Employing data at the county level, from 2005 and 2006, we investigate the effect of ethanol production on employment and wages. Our empirical results show that ethanol production has a positive significant effect on employment and wages, but this effect is of insignificant magnitude. We also find that counties with high and medium levels of ethanol production capacity show higher levels of employment and wages than those counties that do not produce ethanol. …


Ethanol And Food Prices - Preliminary Assessment, Richard K. Perrin May 2012

Ethanol And Food Prices - Preliminary Assessment, Richard K. Perrin

Richard K Perrin

Food prices in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2007 and early 2008. Given the integration of the world markets for foodstuffs, prices increased around the world as well, leading to riots in a number of countries in early 2008. The popular press has tended to attribute these food price increases to demand for corn by the ethanol industry. Grain prices are one determinant of food prices, but they constitute less than 5% of food costs in the U.S.(a higher percentage elsewhere.) This paper focuses on the likely relationship between ethanol and food prices, ignoring the potential role of other important …


Opportunities For Nebraska In Future Carbon Markets: Final Technical Report For Ncesr Project 3-#303, Richard K. Perrin, Adam J. Liska, Lilyan E. Fulginiti May 2012

Opportunities For Nebraska In Future Carbon Markets: Final Technical Report For Ncesr Project 3-#303, Richard K. Perrin, Adam J. Liska, Lilyan E. Fulginiti

Richard K Perrin

This study was funded to explore potential opportunities for Nebraska in future carbon markets, most explicitly those opportunities related to the possibility of replacing fossil fuels with biomass at Nebraska corn ethanol plants. The most direct and significant finding is that biomass-fired CHP (combined heat and power) technology is not economically viable for Nebraska corn ethanol plants under current conditions. We estimate in the study that corn stover price would have to be at least $50 per ton of dry matter for the requisite amounts to be delivered to any of the three ethanol plant locations considered (Adams, Norfolk and …


Grain Ethanol - Why Consider Food For Fuel?, Richard Perrin May 2012

Grain Ethanol - Why Consider Food For Fuel?, Richard Perrin

Richard K Perrin

Current U.S. energy policy encourages additional ethanol production through a combination of subsidies and mandates. Grain ethanol production converts a potential food into fuel. Concerns have been expressed that this drives up the price of food, and could contributed to world hunger problems. Other objections to grain ethanol have been raised: it might not reduce greenhouse gases much if at all; intensified cropping could deteriorate environmental resources, and it might increase smog in cities. Why, then, do proponents favor increased grain ethanol production? It is possible that it will educe greenhouse gas emissions; it can reduce petroleum imports, it can …