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Three essays in agricultural economics : international trade, development and commodity promotion

dc.contributor.advisorKerr, William A.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberTran, Kien C.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberPhillips, Peter W. B.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberGray, Richard S.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBelcher, Kenneth W.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBarichello, Richarden_US
dc.creatorCardwell, Ryan Tyleren_US
dc.date.accessioned2005-07-29T16:21:33Zen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-04T04:48:56Z
dc.date.available2005-08-02T08:00:00Zen_US
dc.date.available2013-01-04T04:48:56Z
dc.date.created2005-06en_US
dc.date.issued2005-06-15en_US
dc.date.submittedJune 2005en_US
dc.description.abstractThis thesis contains three essays on topics in agricultural economics. Essays one and two share a focus on international trade and economic development, and essays two and three apply dynamic tools to agricultural economic policy issues.Essay one analyses trade-related implications of a developing country's decision to adopt genetically-modified crop technology. A fixed-proportions model is constructed that evaluates the welfare implications of a range of adoption policies and export market responses. The model in this essay illustrates the importance of the prospective adopter formulating a projection of probable export market effects before making an adoption decision and of the role that high transaction costs may play in a developing country's adoption decision. The model also considers the effects of a new policy tool; a check-off style levy on genetically-modified technology in place of a technology-use agreement. A levy could be useful tool in developing countries, which are characterised by high transaction costs. Essay two models the effects of emergency food aid on a recipient country's agricultural industry. This essay formulates a definition of “needed” aid in the context of a food emergency and constructs an optimal control model that solves a path of aid shipments that best meets that need. The effects of a range of food aid paths on recipient-country agricultural production are illustrated through numerical simulations. There are two key results. First, a non-optimal amount of aid can hinder a recipient-country's recovery from an exogenous food shock. Second, an exogenous shock can affect farmer revenue and therefore impact planting decisions. This effect must be considered in aid allocation policies. Essay three uses time-series econometric techniques to develop a demand model that assesses the effectiveness of commodity advertising. This essay describes the importance of considering long-run and dynamic effects in demand systems, especially in the case of closely substitutable commodities. A demand system that tests for and accommodates dynamic and time-series properties is developed and applied to US meat data. The results of this model are compared to a traditional static demand system. The dynamic model produces econometrically and theoretically sound results and generates some more intuitively appealing estimates.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-07292005-162133en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectoptimal controlen_US
dc.subjectfood aiden_US
dc.subjectgenetically modifieden_US
dc.subjectgmen_US
dc.subjectalmost ideal demand systemen_US
dc.subjectfixed proportionsen_US
dc.subjectbiotechnologyen_US
dc.subjectdynamicen_US
dc.subjectcointegrationen_US
dc.titleThree essays in agricultural economics : international trade, development and commodity promotionen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
dc.type.materialtexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAgricultural Economicsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineAgricultural Economicsen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Saskatchewanen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US

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