Economics Commons^™

Factors Affecting The Long-Term Market And Profit Potential Of The Utah Apple Industry, Jodie R. Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Utah apple industry is a small competitor in a major market. Efforts were made to analyze the long-term market and profitability potential of the industry. This study consisted of two parts, whole farm simulations and a consumer preference survey.

A whole-farm simulation model (FLIPSIM) was used to evaluate and test variations in price, debt load and sizes of Utah apple production units. These variations examined the effects of various possible market and financial conditions that producers could face given the current situation of the apple industry. FLIPSIM was used to demonstrate the stochastic nature of prices and yields of …

An Estimation Of Primary Benefits Realized On Three Bureau Of Reclamation Projects, Steven D. C. Mcqueen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three Bureau of Reclamation projects, which represent a broad cross-section of the eleven total in Utah, are studied in order to shed light on the value of the invested resources to U.S. taxpayers, the people of Utah, and the local farmers.

The bureau's nonmultiple-purpose projects in Utah are termed "supplemental" as opposed to "full-service" because some amount of irrigation was already in place.

Recent findings from field trials of yield vs. evapotranspiration for major crops grown in the Western states were employed to assess the annual productive value of existing river water rights had the three projects not been built. …

Economic Simulation Of Selected Management Strategies For A Typical Dairy Farm Faced With Declining Milk Prices, M. Reed Balls

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to study the effect of lower milk support prices trigger ed by chronic surplus production problems and to offer alter native management strategies for dairymen caught in the cash flow squeeze precipitated by resulting cuts in the producer price of milk. Historical dairy policy is reviewed and recommendations are offered for consideration in developing dairy policy over the next decade.

FLIPSIM V, a powerful, firm-level computerized simulation model is employed to predict the probable outcome of employing alternative management strategies designed to improve profitability for individual dairymen. The study focuses on a typical farm …

An Examination Of Open- And Closed-Economic Conditions In Operant Research, Craig R. Loftin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of economic condition on the relation between responding and overall rate of reinforcement has been an area of recent interest in operant research. The present research was conducted to determine whether the manipulation of the economic condition, by the systematic manipulation of the provision of substitute food, has an effect on this relation and whether open- and closed-economies represent two opposing alternatives or two parametric extremes along a continuum. The results of two experiments conducted with pigeons using variable-interval and fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement suggest that the manipulation of economic condition has a controlling effect on the relation …

An Historical Overview Of The Evolutions Of Institutions Dealing With Water Resource Use And Water Resource Development In Utah 1847 Through 1947, John Swenson Harvey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis studies the development of social and legal institutions that have controlled the pattern of water development in Utah from 1847 to 1947. The thesis is divided into three parts to facilitate the study of the diverse influences on water development. The first part deals with the mormon church and pioneer influences and private development during the late 1800s. The second begins with statehood and records the changes in the state's institutions up to 1947. The third part is a summary of the entire process. It relates pioneer, private, and state influences to each other and the current (1989) …

Incremental Returns To Cattle Feeding From Alternative Feedlot Practices, Ibrahim R. Hani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main goals of this study are to: 1) identify the influence of various breeds, feeds, and hormone additives on the final weight or the rate of gain of feeder cattle; 2) determine the physical relationships among breeds, feeds, hormone additives, and other variables; and 3) estimate the costs and benefits associated with alternative feed and/or hormone additives and other variables to determine whether the benefits of using different breeds, feeds, and hormone additives exceed the costs. The linear mode l was initially chosen and showed that Rumensin additive and Angus and Simmental cross breeds were not significant on the …

Big Game Depredation To Crops And Orchards In Seven Counties Of Northern And Central Utah: A Case Study, Kerry C. Mcbride

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Depredation to crops and orchards is a problem for agricultural producers in many states where big game are in close proximity to land used for ag-production. Heavy snowfall has created a serious big game depredation in Utah in recent years. Heavy snowfall covers big game feed during winter months, which creates a serious demand on cultivated land to maintain the big game herds at current levels. Many operators believe that current big game herd sizes are too large available feed, and should be reduced to prevent damage to agricultural production. Many big game managers believe otherwise.

This study looked at …

A Study In The Distribution Of Gains From International Trade, Suhas C. Chakrabartty

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to investigate the phenomenon of the distribution of gains from international trade, Arghiri Emmanuel's ideas are firs t critically discussed, particularly in relation to the traditional Ricardian framework as applied to labor-surplus economics.

It is found that Emmanuel's concept of unequal exchange, which has been termed non-equivalent exchange by Jan Otto Anderson, has certain theoretical drawbacks. In particular, it has been pointed out that the question involved is not one to prove that the poor countries are actually worse off through trade as suggested by Emmanuel. The question involved is rather one of redistribution of gains from trade …

Insulation Of Small Open Economies In The Presence Of External Disturbances Under Alternative Exchange Rate Systems, Hamid Reza Azad

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study analyzes the determination of the exchange rate system in a small economy when external real and monetary disturbances occur. Choice of exchange rate policy is investigated using a model assuming rational expectations and a loss function expressing the squared deviations of the small country output from desired output. The distinguishing feature of the analysis is the emphasis on real as well as monetary disturbances which originate abroad but are a source of domestic output variation. the link between foreign monetary and real disturbances and variance in output is traced using the thoretical model and the loss function assumed. …

Problems Of Data Collection For Economic Research In Small Farmer Agriculture: Some Experience In Somalia, Aden Abdullahi Aw-Hassan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purposes of this thesis are twofold. The first is to show problems encountered in collecting and analyzing data on small-holder agriculture. The second is to describe the role of data in supporting research and rationalization of alternatives for sustaining agricultural strategies in development.

Data collected from six villages of the Lower Shebelle Region of Somalia are taken as a case study to show the difficulties encountered in procurement and analysis of that data. The thesis discusses data collection methods that ensure gathering adequate data that can be used to undertake production economics and farm management research. The thesis also …

Economic Feasibility Of Assembling Grade-A Milk By Protein Content, W. Stephen Lei

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis consisted of two computerized simulations of assembling milk from dairy farms and distributing it to milk plants, using TRUCKSTOPS, a commercial truck routing computer program. In the first simulation milk was assembled and delivered to the nearest available plant without regard to protein content, with the high-protein milk delivered to manufacturing plants. Doing so increased the fat and protein in milk delivered to manufacturing plants, and increased cheese production 2.6 percent. It also increased assembly costs and lowered fat and protein in milk delivered to fluid milk plants. The value of the extra cheese was less than the …

Measuring Natural Resource Scarcity Under Common Property Environment And Uncertainty: An Interpretive Analysis, Soumendra N. Ghosh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The issue of natural resource scarcity has so far been addressed in the literature on the basis of various measures such as the unit cost of production, the relative market price, and the shadow price of a resource. Although it has been recognized that there exists some kind of jointness (sometimes inseparable) between an extractible resource and its surrounding environment, none of the measures, either theoretically or empirically, have included this concern.

In order to extract and use a natural resource (e.g., coal) the environment (air, water, etc.) must also be used as a repository of the discharged wastes (e.g., …

Study Of America's Adopt-A-Horse (Or Burro) Program, Peter A. Lawson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study analyzes aspects of Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro adoptions. After primary data are gathered by a questionnaire sent to wild horse and burro adopters, various statistics, and regression test results are reported, which indicate that the demand for the wild horses is multifaceted and that the wild animals are not a homogeneous product. The results overwhelmingly indicate that young and female horses are preferred by the majority of adopters. This finding had supportive evidence in both a price determination model as well as adopters' responses to the survey that was conducted as a part of this study. …

An Analysis Of Some Effects Of China's Foreign Trade On Its Economy, Wei Jiang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The central planning board in China issues orders to each economic agent mainly through two channels, ministries and provinces. These orders become the targets for every specific economic agent. The orders to the Foreign Trade Ministry become the targets for all import and export corporations, provincial foreign trade bureaus, and branch corporations. The activities of all branch corporations comprise China's foreign trade business.

The activities of the foreign trade sector are certainly influenced by features of the entire economy such as the domestic fixed-price system and labor immobility. These factors not only constrain foreign trade activities but also cause inefficiency …

1987 Crop Enterprise Budgets, Selected Tillage Systems, Eastern Whitman County, Washington, Arthur J. Caplan, Herbert R. Hinman, Thomas Roy Hoffmann, Donald Mccool

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

This publication estimates 1987 costs, returns, and soil loss information for selected crops grown under alternative tillage systems in the 19- to 24-inch rainfall area (eastern region) of Whitman County, Washington (see map below). Production costs, returns, and profitability measures are calculated for winter wheat under conventional, minimum, and no-tillage schemes. The same three performance measures are calculated for dry peas, lentils, spring barley, and summer fallow-rapeseed under conventional tillage. Relative soil losses are also estimated for alternative tillage practices and crop rotations. The specific crop rotations evaluated are: (1) dry peas (CT) - winter wheat (CT); (2) dry peas …

Trade Liberalization: The Impact On Utah's Dairy And Meat Industries, Tyler J. Bowles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Trade liberalization in dairy and meat products is of significant interest for Utah since 75 percent of Utah farm cash receipts are from these two products and both product groups are net U.S. imports. This thesis analyzes the impact that trade liberalization in dairy and meat products would have on Utah's dairy and meat industries and Utah's general economy.

A model based upon the current level of imports and exports, the price elasticity of import demand, and the tariff equivalent of import restrictions is used to estimate the production changes in Utah's dairy and meat industries that would result from …

Contingent Valuation Of Early Intervention Programs For Handicapped Children, Colette M. Escobar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Early intervention programs for handicapped preschool children may have long-term implications for the children and their families. Economic evaluations of these programs have been conducted to measure costs and benefits, but parental willingness-to-pay has been overlooked in these analyses. Parental willingness-to-pay, as a measure of consumer surplus, could complete the measure of benefits and provide both policymakers and practitioners with useful information for decision-making. In this study, the implications of eliciting willingness-to-pay responses for an early intervention program for handicapped preschoolers are discussed. A survey technique, known as the contingent valuation method (CVM), is applied to program to empirically estimate …

An Economic Analysis Of Foreign Assets, Money Supply, And Inflation In Saudi Arabia, 1963-83, Said Ahmed M. Khalofa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Until the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, the West knew very little about the economic aspects of the country. Since then, foreign assets have grown , and the balance of payment of Saudi Arabia have reflected an accumulation of continuously rising surpluses, particularly after 1973. Real income increased and consequentIy, supply and demand for money increased.

During the period 1974-77, the Saudi economy experienced a high rate of inflation, but during the subsequent years (the late 1970s and the early 1980s) the Saudi inflation rate began declining.

The main objective of the present study is to conduct an empirical …

Optimal Forest Rotation: Decisions Under Conditions Of Certainty And Uncertainty, Rabindra Nath Bhattacharyya

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The existing literature determining the optimal rotation period of a forest stand under conditions of certainty, as well as under uncertainty, lacks the genera 1 scope to be useful. A forest provides timber of commercial value, a flow of recreational services, and other valuable environmental services. Providing goods and services involves benefits as well as costs. Relevant management decisions depend on the net values that can be obtained. The present work developes a more general model for determining an optimal rotation period incorporating various fixed and variable costs associated with timber production and recreational services in an environment of certainty …

Exchange Rate Stability And Its Implications For Economic Development Of The Less Developed Countries, Chileshe Hilda Wabo Gowon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The question that Less Developed Countries have faced since the advent of floating exchange rates among the Industrial Countries is whether they should also adopt a floating exchange rate system. The Less Developed Countries have opted for a pegged exchange rate system, since their economic characteristics and institutional structure indicate that floating for the Less Developed Countries would result in volatile or unstable exchange rates. Since Less Developed Countries peg t heir exchange rates in the presence of flexible rates among industrial countries, the Less Developed Countries pegged exchange rates move in accordance to the exchange rates to which they …

External Borrowing And Economic Development: The Case Of Jordan, Riad Almomani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examines Jordan's development policy and analyzes the role of Jordan's external public borrowing in economic development during the period 1967-1983. Mainly, Jordan's rapidly increasing external indebtedness is related to its development strategy which is based on the concept of unbalanced growth. This strategy has emphasized' the concentration of development resources (including external loans) in certain areas (e.g. Amman and Zarka) and certain economic sectors (e.g. industry and service) which are assumed to be growth propelling. The agricultural sector has been seriously ignored in Jordan's development process.

Jordan's growth has been quite impressive, but the problems of poverty and …

The Welfare Impacts Of Environmental Regulation In An Open Economy, Nicole Glineur

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The major theoretical and practical economic issues on pollution have apparently been sorted out. However, the bulk of the literature in environmental economics shares a shortcoming: the disregard of the welfare implications and consequences of pollution control.

Traditionally, pollution is viewed as a joint product. In this study, the issue of trade and environmental regulations is cast as a problem of input regulation, and the subsequent welfare implications of input regulation are then derived. The purpose of the present research is to emphasize the welfare consequences of pollution control in the context of international or interregional trade. The Batra and …

Does Inflation Tend To Perpetuate Itself? The Case Of Latin America, Ebrahim Harraf

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to test the existing theory which explains inflation as a result of its self-generating nature; (2) to investigate the contribution of foreign trade upon inflation; and (3) to test the casual relationship between the rate of inflation and the deficit. A system of four equations has been used to explain the relationship between the price level and the monetary expansion, between the rate of growth of the monetary base and the rate of the monetary expansion, the deficit and the monetary base, and, finally, between the deficit and the price level. As …

The Value Of Microcomputers In Agriculture, John P. Gibney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was two-fold. To examine the hardware and software purchased, training taken, and benefit recieved by farmers recently purchasing micro computers and to demonstrate a systematic approach of evaluating software. Over five hundred farmers that use microcomputers were surveyed on farm size and type, personal and computer system characteristics, and perceived benefit from the computer. Farmers that use computers were found to be younger, have higher incomes and benefit more from their computer systems with time than averages for all farmers. The use of printers and/or modems appeared to be justified for all levels of income. …

The Cost Effective Acquisition And Dissemination Of Market Information: A Computerized Approach, Tammy Burton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Clearly, many of the developments in computerized market systems are regarded as revolutionary in an industry which has undergone diminutive changes in marketing its products and acquiring current market information. Cognizance of the agricultural market situation is pertinent for maximum production efficiency, bargaining strength, and financial success for producers.

Collectively, producers in Utah face the dilemma of receiving approximately ten percent less in cash receipts for their commodities than their counterparts in surrounding states. Market information that was attainable by producers was often obsolete, redundant, expensive, and irrelevant to the market situation in Utah.

The implementation of a Computerized Market …

Estimation Of Cost And Benefit Of Instream Flow, Parvaneh Amirfathi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water flowing in streams has value for various types of recreationists and is essential for fish and wildlife. Since water demands for offstream uses in the arid west have been steadily increasing, increasing instream flows to enhance the recreational experience might be in conflict with established withdrawals for uses such as agriculture, industries and households.

It is the intent of this study to contribute to an economic assessment of the tradeoff between maintaining instream flow for river recreation use and offstream uses; that is, to develop and apply a method to measure costs and benefits of water used for recreation …

Risk In Production, Mamadou Dian Diallo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Most production activities undertaken involve a certain degree of risk. Agricultural production is particularly risky since it is susceptible to the physical vagaries of nature and all economic and social variations. For most countries, agriculture is an important and vital sector where production decisions are made under risk. Hence, decision making under risk requires careful analysis and represents an important area of study.

The present research has been directed to advance our knowledge about the consequences of risk, and the behavior toward risk in the organization of production, particularly agricultural production. This objective is achieved by a review of risk …

Energy Analysis Of Flat Water Recreation: An Economic Assessment, Craig Leon Howell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Energy analysts believe that traditional economics and energy markets undervalue the only absolutely limited resource, energy. They have produced methods to supplement or supercede economics.

However, theoretical underpinnings of these methods include an energy theory of value which is shown to be too narrow to support workable economic models or numeraires. Sample rankings of recreational values on four Utah reservoirs, using energy analysis and economic methods, show that the two methods yield opposite rankings.

An Economic Analysis Of Watershed Practices: Impact Of Grazing On Watershed, In-Hwan Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A theoretical analysis for estimating the social cost and benefits associated with the impact of grazing on rangeland watersheds has been made in this study. A dynamic maximization model is used to derive an optimal utilization of forage by grazing, where forage utilization is treated as a decision variable and the hydrologic outputs of water and sediment are considered as a possible impact resulting from grazing.

A modeling approach to predict the quantities of water runoff and sediment yield from watersheds was employed. A water balance equation and a curve number procedure were used to predict water runoff. For the …

A Dynamic Optimization Model Of Energy Related Economic Planning And Development For The Navajo Nation, Hamid Beladi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Navajo reservation located in portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah is rich in low sulfur coal deposits, ideal for strip mining operation. Presently, the Navajo Nation has entered into extensive coal leases with several large companies and utilities. Contracts have committed huge quantities of Navajo coal for mining.

The present research has been directed to evaluate the shadow prices of Navajo coal and identify optimal coal extraction. An economic model of coal resource extraction over time has been structured within an optimal control problem has been formulated as a discrete dynamic optimization problem.

A comparison of the shadow …