Search

PurposeThe article examines the impact of policy change on enterprise unit subsidies that took place in 2009 on the quantity demanded for crop insurance.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis covers corn, soybeans, and wheat that are grown in six economic regions and uses various measures of purchasing such as acres insured, unit structure, coverage levels, as well as crop hail use as proxies for the quantity demanded.The analysis first employs time series econometric tools to analyze whether the time path of the share of enterprise units within buyup acres is influenced by the policy change in enterprise unit subsidies. It then comparatively examines the insurance experience between 2008 (right before the change) and 2015 (well after the change).FindingsFor corn, soybean, and wheat, the analysis establishes that the time path of the share of enterprise units within buyup coverage acres is statistically and economically influenced by the intervention. The analysis further quantifies the intervention's immediate and long-term impacts and finds that farmers' unit choices are highly responsive (elastic) to subsidy rates in those units.Between 2008 and 2015, the insurance experience generally indicates that the share of enterprise units within buyup coverage surged, the share of acres under catastrophic coverage declined, and the share acres in high coverage levels increased. Meanwhile, growers have increasingly utilized crop-hail policies.Originality/valueThis appears to be the first study (1) quantifying the sensitivity of farmers' unit choices with respect to subsidy rates in those units and finding that such choices are actually highly responsive (elastic), and (2) pointing out the interaction between MPCI and crop-hail products and offering insights as to their combined use. The findings should be of considerable value to policymakers, academics, bankers, and producers in regards to the design and use of risk management tools.

Bu calismanin amaci, kamu kurumlarinda gosterilen liderlik tarzlarinin calisan ses verme davranisina etkisini arastirmaktir. Lider davranisinin calisanlar uzerindeki etkisinden yola cikilarak, liderlik tarzlarinin, calisan sesliligi uzerindeki etkisi arastirilmistir. Liderlik tarzlari; degisim odakli, iliski odakli ve gorev odakli liderlik tarzlari olarak, calisan sesliligi de kurumun gelisimi konusunda duygu, dusunce ve fikirlerin sozlu olarak dile getirilmesi olarak ifade edilmektedir. Arastirma iliskisel tarama modelindedir. Bir kamu kurumunun Ankara bolgesindeki birimlerinde gorevli 341 kamu calisanindan veri toplanmistir. Analiz sonucunda, calisan sesliligi ile gorev odakli liderlik tarzi arasinda pozitif yonde anlamli iliski bulunmus; degisim odakli ve iliski odakli liderlik tarzlari ile anlamli bir iliski bulunamamistir. Elde edilen bulgular sonuc bolumunde tartisilmistir.

Purpose Regional differences in crop insurance uptake have persisted over time. To partly explain this phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate a budget constraint (heuristic) effect within the standard expected utility theory (EUT) framework through simulation methods. Design/methodology/approach Within the EUT framework, a standard simulation model is used to gain insights into farm insurance decisions when a budget constraint is in effect. The budget constraint is modeled as it has been revealed through the data on farmers’ insurance expenditures. In the simulation analysis, certainty equivalent values are used to rank farm options subject to the revealed budget constraint. Findings A budget constraint effect within the EUT framework stands out in explaining the observed regional differences. The proposed explanation is consistent with the historical trends on the ratio of crop insurance expenditure to expected crop value, higher premium rates in regions with lower crop insurance uptake, and the limited turnout for the 2014 Farm Bill’s supplemental area-based crop insurance products. Farmers’ crop insurance choices are found to be mostly constrained-optimal. Originality/value This appears to be the first study taking the revealed preferences approach to farmers’ crop insurance choices in a simulation analysis. Some policy implications are drawn and future research avenues are suggested. The findings should be of considerable value to policymakers, academics, bankers, and producers in regard to the design and use of risk management tools.

We have identified three specific problems in the economics of innovation and addressed each of them in separate essays in this thesis.;Essay 1 revisits the problem of inefficient diversification efforts of firms in a RDEssay 2 refers to the adoption and diffusion stages of the innovation process as we look at the economic effects of the introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) food in the European Union (EU) agricultural and food system. We develop a partial equilibrium modeling of European agro food sector and calibrate the model's parameters by using the EU data in year 2000. We find that the introduction of GM food is reducing overall welfare but the producers of quality-enhanced products become better off, a result that is robust to variations in the values of critical parameters.;Essay 3 empirically studies a basic, yet somewhat unexplored, question of whether U.S. universities in expectation, are earning economic rent (profit) from licensing activities. The data include 148 observations from U.S. universities over the five years time period 1998 to 2002 and are mostly from AUTM (Association of the University Technology Managers) surveys and various other sources. Based on a structural econometric model of licensing rents of U.S. universities, we obtain the "marginal rate of return" from research dollars as nearly 1% and identify the key determinant of license rent generation as the quality of faculty (which is measured by the citations received in technology departments), together with the size of the university in terms of total research expenditures.;1 Dasgupta, P., and E. Maskin. 1987. "The Simple Economics of Research Portfolios." Economic Journal 97: 581-95.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use simulation analysis to assess farmer choice between crop insurance and supplemental revenue options as proposed during development of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Design/methodology/approach – The certainty equivalent of wealth is used to rank farm choices and assess the effects of supplemental revenue options on the crop insurance plan and coverage level chosen by the producer under a range of farm attributes. The risk-reducing effectiveness of the select programs is also examined through their impact on the farm revenue distribution. The dependence structure of yield and prices is modeled by applying copula techniques on historical data. Findings – Farm program supplemental revenue programs generally have no effect on crop insurance choices. Crop insurance supplemental revenue programs typically reduce crop insurance coverage at high coverage levels. An individual plan of crop insurance combined with a supplemental revenue insurance plan may substitute for incumbent area crop insurance plans. Originality/value – The analysis provides insights into farmers’ possible choices by focussing on alternative crops and farm attributes and extensive scenarios, using current data, crop insurance plans and programs contained in the 2014 Farm Bill and related bills. The results should be of value to policy officials and producers in regards to the design and use of risk management tools.

We theoretically examine a farmer's optimal use of area and individual crop insurance when area and individual losses are positively but imperfectly correlated. If premium rates for both plans are actuarially fair,the farmer will demand full individual insurance and no area insurance. If area insurance is free and individual insurance is offered at an actuarially fair rate, area insurance replaces a portion of individual insurance demand. If individual insurance is offered as a wrap around the area plan at an actuarially fair rate and area insurance is free, the farmer will demand excess individual insurance and some area insurance. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.

A sample of U.S. consumers were surveyed in a choice based experiment in the Fall of 2005 and Spring 2006 to elicit Consumers' preferences for quality attributes in beef products. Based on the resulting data, a random coefficients logit model is estimated, and Consumers' willingness to pay for these quality attributes in beef products is obtained. The results indicate that consumers have strong valuation for traceability, grass-fed, and U.S. origin attributes in a standard rib-eye steak and are willing to pay a premium for these attributes.

Consistent with the rights and incentives provided by the Bayh–Dole Act of 1980, US universities have increased their involvement in patenting and licensing activities through their own technology transfer offices. Only a few US universities are obtaining large returns, however, whereas others are continuing with these activities despite negligible or negative returns. We assess the US universities’ potential to generate returns from licensing activities by modeling and estimating quantiles of the distribution of net licensing returns conditional on some of their structural characteristics. We find limited prospects for public universities without a medical school everywhere in their distribution. Other groups of universities (private, and public with a medical school) can expect better but still fairly modest returns. These findings call into question the appropriateness of the revenue-generating motive for the aggressive rate of patenting and licensing by US universities.

In patent race models, firms' noncooperatively chosen research projects typically display too much correlation. But when there are multiple intellectual property rights protection instruments, we find that the paths chosen in an R&D race can move towards the social optimum.

After controlling a variety of feeder cattle characteristics and market and sale conditions, we estimate the price premiums for preconditioning (vaccinations and minimum 30 days weaning) claims with and without third-party certification (TPC) as $6.15/cwt and $3.40/cwt, respectively, in Iowa feeder cattle auctions. These premiums differ statistically (p-value less than 0.0001) and their difference exceeds the additional participation cost of TPC ($1/cwt) on average. This indicates that the third party certification is valued in the market to credibly signal preconditioning investment under asymmetric information.

In line with the rights and incentives provided by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, U.S. universities have increased their involvement in patenting and licensing activities through their own technology transfer offices. Only a few U.S. universities are obtaining large returns, however, whereas others are continuing with these activities despite negligible or negative returns. We assess the U.S. universities' potential to generate returns from licensing activities by modeling and estimating quantiles of the distribution of net licensing returns conditional on some of their structural characteristics. We find limited prospects for public universities without a medical school everywhere in their distribution. Other groups of universities (private, and public with a medical school) can expect significant but still fairly modest returns only beyond the 0.9th quantile. These findings call into question the appropriateness of the revenue-generating motive for the aggressive rate of patenting and licensing by U.S. universities.

Evaluating the possible benefits of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops must address the issue of consumer resistance as well as the complex regulation that has ensued. In the European Union (EU) this regulation envisions the "co-existence" of GM food with conventional and quality-enhanced products, mandates the labelling and traceability of GM products, and allows only a stringent adventitious presence of GM content in other products. All these elements are brought together within a partial equilibrium model of the EU agricultural food sector. The model comprises conventional, GM and organic food. Demand is modelled in a novel fashion, whereby organic and conventional products are treated as horizontally differentiated but GM products are vertically differentiated (weakly inferior) relative to conventional ones. Supply accounts explicitly for the land constraint at the sector level and for the need for additional resources to produce organic food. Model calibration and simulation allow insights into the qualitative and quantitative effects of the large-scale introduction of GM products in the EU market. We find that the introduction of GM food reduces overall EU welfare, mostly because of the associated need for costly segregation of non-GM products, but the producers of quality-enhanced products actually benefit.

The choice of a research path in attacking scientific and technological problems is a significant component of firms' R&D strategy. One of the findings of the patent races literature is that, in a competitive market setting, firms' noncooperative choices of research projects display an excessive degree of correlation, as compared to the socially optimal level. The paper revisits this question in a context in which firms have access to trade secrets, in addition to patents, to assert intellectual property rights (IPR) over their discoveries. We find that the availability of multiple IPR protection instruments can move the paths chosen by firms engaged in an R&D race toward the social optimum.