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We estimate effects of nonfinancial incentives, combined with the notion of ‘loss aversion,’ on students’ exam performance in two introductory economics courses. Our experiment awarded five points ...

An investigation of Poisson type policy jumps on biodiesel investment considers the theory of investment under uncertainty. The analysis studies the probability of implementing a policy if it is not in effect and the probability of withdrawal if it is in effect. An application models the policy-switching regime of the discontinuous U.S. federal tax credit of $1.00 per gallon on biodiesel. Results support that time inconsistent government policies do lead to market uncertainty. The analysis reveals a pronounced negative impact on decisions to invest in a biodiesel refinery. Results do indicate a consistent policy-switching regime may not be that disruptive to the emerging biodiesel industry. It is policy uncertainty that drives the option-pricing thresholds and a consistent policy switching does not increase the uncertainty.

Using home‐scan data set from Kantar Worldpanel, we conduct an empirical study on Chinese urban consumer shopping behavior from online and offline channels, using yogurt as an example. Results confirm the advantages of E‐commerce relative to traditional offline retail channel in terms of keeping consumers loyal. Results also indicate the online and offline markets are of different business models, in that the online market is a separate market from offline even for the same brand. There exists evidence of brand loyalty for online shoppers but not offline. However, it is more challenging for online late entrants to build brand loyalty because consumers are price sensitive online. Firms are recommended to think of new and differentiated products online, which focus more on quality instead of price to catch the young generation with increasing income.

An analytical framework is developed for integrating the social science into a socio-technical approach for assessing the optimal solar energy subsidy. Estimating the optimal solar subsidy based on the analytical framework takes into account technical environment, health, employment, and electricity accessibility benefits as well as household's prosocial behavior. Results indicate that an optimal subsidy is positively affected by the marginal external benefit; however, this effect is mitigated by the rebound effect based on motivational-crowding theory. Calibrating the model using published elasticities yields estimates of the optimal solar energy subsidy equal to approximately $0.02 per kilowatt-hour when prosocial behavior is omitted. The estimated optimal subsidy is in line with many current state feed-in-tariff rates, which may be the upper bound when social science is not considered in policy analysis.

The limited endowment of resources that usually characterised low-income households imposes a binding trade-off between current and future consumption. In many transition countries, microfinance re...

Over the past decade, the U.S. Southeast has experienced a rapid expansion of wood-pellet biomass production for European export. This renewable wood-pellet supply requires nonrenewable-energy inputs in its manufacturing and logistics, which suggests possible price-volatility spillovers between renewable and nonrenewable markets. A BEKK-MGARCH model is employed for investigating these possible price-volatility spillovers. Overall, results suggest a limited negative effect of past volatile nonrenewable-energy prices influencing current wood-pellet price volatility. Specifically, high volatilities in nonrenewable-energy prices do not affect the volatility of wood-pellet prices. Thus, any stability concerns in terms of nonrenewable-input prices affecting the wood-pellet market are not warranted.

The major expansion of U.S. ethanol production raises concerns about the potential detrimental impacts on developing countries’ agricultural prices, farm income, and food security. To assess the sensitivity of maize prices to ethanol production, this study explores the linkage between the U.S. ethanol market and developing countries’ maize prices. The econometric approach, based on a panel structural vector autoregression model, captures market interdependencies and the likelihood that developing countries’ responses are both heterogeneous and dynamic. The results indicate that the U.S. ethanol market's impacts on maize prices in developing countries are heterogeneous and that coastal countries are more susceptible to U.S. economic shocks. The estimates also suggest that countries more dependent on food imports and/or receiving U.S. food aid are at a higher risk of being affected by such shocks. Overall, the results indicate that those countries with the greatest sensitivity and exposure to global agricultural commodity markets could benefit from domestic policies and international assistance, which reduce their exposure to impacts from the U.S. maize market.

In 2010, 21% of the total food available for consumption in the United States was wasted at the household level. In response to this waste, a number of counties and U.S. localities have instituted policies (disposal taxes) directed toward reducing this waste. However, currently there is no federal food-waste disposal tax. The aim of this paper is to establish a theoretical foundation for household food waste, and based on this theory, to determine the social-optimal food-waste (disposal) tax, along with a government incentive. The theory unravels the interrelation between social food insecurity and external environmental costs, which is not generally considered by households when they waste food. A social-optimal disposal tax and government incentive involve Pigovian mechanisms and governmental expenditures. For a zero level of food waste, the social-optimal disposable tax and government incentive approach infinity.

Prior to the current U.S. shale gas boom, compressed natural gas played only a minor role as a vehicle fleet fuel despite government policies supporting adoption. With new hydraulic-fracturing methods resulting in a natural gas supply surge, a structural shift has occurred in compressed natural gas price dynamics and its relation with diesel prices. This study analyzes the impact of this shift on the optimal fuel choice by return-to-base trucking fleets considering pre- and post-boom compressed natural gas and diesel price dynamics in a real options analysis framework. Optimal decision thresholds for differing size and vehicle miles traveled indicate that even in the absence of supportive government policies, compressed natural gas is a viable and profitable alternative to diesel under the new market conditions.

The 2012 drought in the U.S. Midwest resulted in volatile crop prices. With field crops constituting a major input in livestock production, livestock producers sought a waiver to Renewable Fuel Standard biofuel mandates. They believed such a waiver would mitigate crop-price volatility; given crops are major inputs in biofuel production. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the waiver under the belief that the waiver would have minimal if any impact on mitigating price volatility. Employing a VECM, the objective is to investigate if it was prudent for the EPA to reject the waiver. Results generally support EPA's conclusion that the waiver relaxing the biofuel mandate would have minimal impact.

Using principal component analysis, a climate index is developed to estimate the linkage between climate and crop yields. The indices based on three climate projections are then applied to forecast future crop yield responses. We identify spatial heterogeneity of crop yield responses to future climate change across a number of U.S. northern and southern states. The results indicate that future hotter/drier weather conditions will likely have significant negative impacts on southern states, whereas only mild impacts are expected in most northern states.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship of the carbon Kuznets curve. We discuss two potential flaws in past carbon Kuznets curve studies: one, the potential misspecification of energy consumption as a control variable; and, two, the use of vector error correction models as an empirical specification. Given these potential flaws we estimate a dynamic ordinary least squares model of monthly carbon dioxide emissions, personal income, and energy production in the U.S. from 1981 to 2003. Our results suggest that economic growth drives emissions intensities, not absolute emissions as is often implied in past studies.

A dynamic optimization model is developed to show how crop yield and price volatility could impact acreage response under crop rotation considerations. By maximizing net present value of expected current and future farm profits, a modified Bellman equation helps optimize planting decisions. Our model is capable of simulating crop rotations with different lengths and structures. The corn–soybean rotation was simulated using the model to determine break-even prices for alternative planting decisions. Furthermore, we assume that the extent to which crop yields are penalized when skipping a rotation scheme is not fixed. Then we investigated the relationship between yield penalty levels and break-even corn price percentage changes. By considering both 1-year and 2-year carry-over effects which represent how previous crops affect current crop yield, our results indicate that producers are more likely to choose a crop rotation scheme when yield penalties are higher.

Recent failures of renewable energy plants have raised concerns regarding government's role in providing credit subsidies and have harmed the long-run development of renewable energy. The major reason for these failures lies in government loan appraisers not having a model that addresses these root causes and instead relying on traditional net present value (NPV) analysis. What is required is a model representing entrepreneurs' investment decision processes when faced with uncertainty, irreversibility, and flexibility that characterize renewable energy investments. The aim is to develop such a model with a real options analysis (ROA) criterion as the foundation. A case study comparing NPV with ROA decisions for 50 and 100 million gallon ethanol plants is used as a basis for future development of a template government loan appraisers can use for evaluating the feasibility of renewable energy investments.

A structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model along with a direct acyclic graph is employed to decompose how supply/demand structural shocks affect food and fuel markets. The results support the hypothesis that fundamental market forces of demand and supply are the main drivers of food price volatility. Increased biofuel production may cause short-run food price increases but not long-run price shifts. Decentralized freely operating markets will mitigate the persistence of any price shocks and restore prices to their long-run trends. The main policy implications are that oil, gasoline, and ethanol market shocks do not spillover into grain prices, which indicates no long-run food before fuel issue. In the short-run, grain prices can spike due to market shocks, so programs designed to blunt these price spikes may be warranted.

Enhanced environmental quality, fuel security, and economic development, along with reduced prices of blended diesel, are often used as justifications for a U.S. federal excise tax exemption on biodiesel fuels. However, the possible effect of increased overall consumption of fuel in response to lower total prices, mitigating the environmental and fuel security benefits, are generally not considered. Taking this price response into account, the optimal U.S biodiesel subsidy is derived. Estimated values of the optimal subsidy are close to the recently expired subsidy, revealing the subsidy's environmental and security benefits. However, further positive environmental and security benefits from the biodiesel tax-exemption subsidy may be obtained if the subsidy is combined with a federal excise tax on petroleum diesel.

The rapid growth of biofuels has elicited claims and predictions concerning the current and future role of these fuels in the U.S. vehicle-fuel portfolio. These assertions are at times based on a false set of assumptions concerning the biofuel's market related to the petroleum and agricultural commodities markets, and the nonmarket consequences of our automobile driving. As an aid in clarifying these market relations, the following four biofuel myths are presented: (1) biofuels will be adopted because we will soon run out of oil, (2) biofuels will solve the major external costs associated with our automobile driving, (3) biofuels cause food price inflation (the food before fuel issue), and (4) biofuels will become a major vehicle fuel.

Pomegranate fruit is valued for its juice-containing arils and is consumed and marketed as whole fresh fruit, extracted arils, juice, syrup (grenadine), wine, teas, seed oil, and other products. Recent consumption has rapidly increased attributable in part to reported health benefits that include efficacy against coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, hypertension, and infectious diseases. Within commercial orchards, the size of fruits produced can be quite variable even with trees of the same genotype grown under similar cultivation practices. Although pomegranates have been cultivated since antiquity, fruit attributes, particularly those related to size, are poorly defined. In this study, compositional changes in pomegranate fruits of the Wonderful cultivar, including volume and weight, aril weight and number, pericarp weight, seed weight, and juice/pulp content, were evaluated in fruits of variable sizes. Correlations between fruit characteristics were determined, and factor analysis established fruit and aril indices. Results indicated that because fruit volume, fruit weight, and total aril weight are closely correlated, any of these characteristics can be used as an indicator of fruit size. The number of arils per fruit was highly correlated with fruit size with larger fruit containing greater numbers of arils. This is in contrast to individual average aril weight, which showed no significant relationship to fruit size. Crop production strategies aimed at increasing aril numbers may be a means for obtaining larger fruit in pomegranate.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering a waiver allowing an increase in the fuel-ethanol blend limit (the “blend wall”) from 10% (E10) up to 15% (E15). Justifications for this waiver are reduced vehicle fuel prices and less consumption of petroleum gasoline leading to energy security. A theoretical examination of this waiver reveals an anomaly where a relaxation of this blend wall elicits a demand response. Under a wide range of elasticities, this demand response can actually increase the consumption of petroleum gasoline and thus lead to greater energy insecurity. The economics supporting this result and associated policy implications are developed and discussed.

Sorting out the impacts of biofuels on global agricultural commodity prices is impossible without turning to data and distinguishing between the short-run versus the long-run impacts. Using time-series prices on fuels and agricultural commodities, the aim is to investigate the long-run cointegration of these prices simultaneously with their multivariate short-run interactions. Results indicate no direct long-run price relations between fuel and agricultural commodity prices, and limited if any direct short-run relationships. In terms of short-run price movements, sugar prices are influencing all the other agricultural commodity prices except rice. With sugar the number one world input for ethanol, results indicate increased ethanol production is potentially influencing short-run agricultural commodity prices. Overall, results support the effect of agricultural commodity prices as market signals which restore commodity markets to their equilibria after a demand or supply event (shock).

The rapid upward shift in ethanol demand has raised concerns about ethanol’s impact on the price level and volatility of agricultural commodities. The popular press attributes much of this volatility in commodity prices to a price bubble in ethanol fuel and recent deflation. Market economics predicts not only a softening of demand to high commodity prices but also a positive supply response. This volatility in ethanol and commodity prices are investigated using cointegration, vector error corrections (VECM), and multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedascity (MGARCH) models. In terms of derived demand theory, results support ethanol and oil demands as derived demands from vehicle-fuel production. Gasoline prices directly influence the prices of ethanol and oil. However, of greater significance for the fuel versus food security issue, results support the effect of agricultural commodity prices as market signals which restore commodity markets to their equilibriums after a demand or supply event (shock). Such shocks may in the short-run increase agricultural commodity prices, but decentralized freely operating markets will mitigate the persistence of these shocks. Results indicate in recent years there are no long-run relations among fuel (ethanol, oil and gasoline) prices and agricultural commodity (corn and soybean) prices.

Enhanced environmental quality, fuel security, and economic development along with reduced prices of ethanol–gasoline blends are often used as justifications for the U.S. federal excise tax exemption on ethanol fuels. However, the possible effect of increased overall consumption of fuel in response to lower total price, mitigating the environmental and fuel security benefits, are generally not considered. Taking this price response into account, the optimal U.S. ethanol subsidy is derived. Estimated values of the optimal subsidy reveal that the subsidy's environmental and security benefits are questionable. However, positive environmental and security benefits from the ethanol tax-exemption subsidy may be obtained if the subsidy is combined with an increase in the excise tax on gasoline.

The problem of water pollution from small livestock producers (non-concentrated animal feeding operations) could be addressed through water quality regulations that apply to additional livestock producers. However, in adopting modified federal water quality regulations, the costs of mandatory controls led to the decision to exempt small producers. Thus, alternative non-water-quality state regulations may offer the best mechanism to address the problem of diffuse pollution from manure applications by small livestock producers. This paper proposes a disincentive to discourage farmers from engaging in practices that cause diffuse pollution. Farmers who fail to employ acceptable manure application measures would be disqualified from using the anti-nuisance defense of a state “right-to-farm” law. Before animal producers qualify for anti-nuisance protection for activities involving the application of manure, they would be required to be engaged in reasonable and prudent best management practices. Since many small producers live in urban fringe areas where nuisance lawsuits are a concern, this disincentive would be expected to lead to better manure application practices. In this manner, a government could reduce pollutants from manure applications thereby improving water quality.

The effect of marketing quotas and price supports on technology adoption are examined for peanut production in the southeastern United States using a real options model of investment with output price and yield uncertainty. The optimal choice of peanut production technology (dryland versus irrigated) in the southeast is shown to depend on price supports and how they change. The manner in which price supports change will have an effect on the choice and rates of abandonment or adoption of production technologies.

An adaptive regression model is employed for estimating pre- and post-boll weevil eradication cotton-acreage response. Results indicate cotton acreage becoming more inelastic to own- and cross-price changes. As a result of this shift in acreage response and yield increases from eradication, net producer benefits on average are $88.73 per acre.

An indirect utility model is employed for measuring farmers’ willingness to voluntarily accept yield losses for a reduction in environmental risk by decreasing pesticide use. Results support the hypothesis that farmers have self-described risk perceptions that enable them to make assessments of risk-yield tradeoffs. Policies designed to encourage and assist farmers making voluntary pesticide reductions can result in environmental risk reduction.

A comparison of operating costs for buses used in a transit system are investigated considering four alternative fuels: biodiesel, compressed natural gas, methanol, and diesel. Rust's `nested fixed point' maximum likelihood estimation algorithm is used in this comparison. The algorithm considers both tangible costs such as fuel, maintenance, and infrastructure, and intangible costs associated with different levels of bus engine operating reliability under alternative fuels. Using data on actual monthly mileage and time of engine rebuilds under the four alternative fuels, the Rust algorithm is employed assuming that an optimal maintenance strategy is adopted for each alternative fuel type. Results indicate that although biodiesel and biodiesel blends have higher total costs than diesel fuel, they have the potential of competing with CNG and methanol as fuels for urban transit buses.

Assuming a declining correlation in yields as distance between pairs of orchards increases, yield variability in peach production may be reduced by increasing distances among orchards. As a measure of yield variability that avoids possible bias resulting from orchard-specific effects, a stochastic production function is estimated. Results support the assumption that a declining correlation between yields exists as distance increases. For every mile further apart, the correlation in yield declines 2.28%. Copyright 1997, Oxford University Press.

An extension of the Guerrero et al. (2010) net present value (NPV) analysis using real options analysis (ROA) is offered to improve machinery replacement decisions. Specifically, the feasibilities of replacing natural gas irrigation systems with either electric or hybrid (electric/wind) systems are evaluated. Results indicate NPV and ROA criteria can yield opposite decisions depending on the stochastic nature of the parameters, reversibility of the investment, and flexibility of investment timing. For policy, NPV results indicate that replacing natural gas with a hybrid is on the cusp of being optimal. However, ROA indicates this NPV implication may not hold.

The general method of moments procedure is used for estimating a soybean acreage response function assuming that producers hold rational expectations. Results indicate that soybean, corn, and wheat futures prices, lagged acreage, and government programs are significant factors for determining soybean plantings. Implications of the results are that crop acreage selection by Georgia producers is not very responsive to demand shocks. Thus, producers in other regions are more likely to absorb impacts from these shocks on crop acreage selection.

Widely reported research results indicate that cotton integrated pest management (IPM) generally reduces chemical use and increases net returns. Despite these favorable research results, many farmers have not adopted IPM and others have adopted only some of the available technologies. Given rising marginal costs and diminishing marginal benefits from IPM technology transfer, an optimal control framework is developed to identify optimal rates of technology transfer through educational programs. Results from an analysis of this dynamic adoption process for cotton IPM are presented. Considering the complex and evolving nature of cotton IPM, continuing educational efforts to transfer IPM technologies are warranted.

The search for alternative fumigants has been ongoing since the 1992 Parties of the Montreal Protocol classified methyl bromide as a Class I controlled substance with an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0.7 and destined it for phase-out. This paper focuses on the hazards from fumigants proposed as alternatives for pre-plant soil fumigation in tomato production. We use the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) developed by Kovach et al. to estimate the hazards from methyl bromide and the proposed alternative fumigants to workers, consumers, beneficial arthropods, birds, fish, and bees. Our findings indicate that iodomethane 98/2 has the lowest EIQ index value and field use rating, and is the alternative with the lowest relative risk. Among environmental categories, workers and beneficial arthropods experience the highest relative risks from the proposed tomato fumigants, and fish and consumers the least risks.

Considerable effort and money are devoted to developing alternative energy sources, such as wind power, solar power, cellulosic ethanol, and biofuels. This ebook is a collection of research papers on alternative energy sources presented at the Economics of Alternative Energy Sources and Globalization: The Road Ahead Conference that was held in November 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Thirty-three papers were presented by leading experts in the field, with about half being published in the e-book. Several of the papers explored the economics of biofuels produced from corn, sugarcane, and/or forestry materials. Two of the papers addressed the link between biofuel production and U.S. agricultural policy, and how biofuels could reduce U.S. Treasury costs even though biofuels increase food prices. International subsidies promote alternative fuel production (e.g., Brazil). This ebook should be a very useful resource for readers interested in alternative energy research and related economic policy.

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced a waiver allowing an increase in the Fuel-Ethanol blend limit (the “blend wall” ) from 10% (E10) to 15% (E15) on October,2010.Justifications for the waiver are reduced vehicle fuel prices and less consumption of petroleum gasoline, leading to energy security. In this paper, employing Monte Carlo simulations and Savitzky-Golay smoothing filter, an empirical study examines this waiver revealing an anomaly where a relaxation of this blend wall elicits a demand response. Under a wide range of elasticities, this demand response can actually increase the consumption of petroleum gasoline and thus lead to greater energy insecurity. The economics supporting this result and associated policy implications are developed and discussed.

The real advantage of receiving a Southern Agricultural Economics Association Lifetime Achievement award is the ability to make this presentation and have it published without having to deal with editors and referees. This provides a certain license of freedom to abstract outside the box without being constrained by your peers. So in this vein, consider the following myths and predictions concerning biofuels. These myths are generally consistent with the Grunwald's (2009) seven myths about alternative energy.

Stink bugs damage both quantity and quality of the Methyl parathion or Penncap M (an encapsulated soybean crop (Todd). Seeds damaged by stink bugs methyl parathion) are used extensively throughout will result in price reductions, with dockage based the United States for controlling stink bug pests in on percent damaged kernels. Some foreign buyers soybeans, Glycine Max (L.) Merrill. However, this may even completely reject seeds with stink bug insecticide is highly toxic to mammals, birds, and damage. Thus, stink bugs can lower a producer's non-target arthropods, and thus is less environmen- yield, price, and profits tally sound than other insecticides. For environ- An immediate response to combat the threat of mental and human health considerations, pests is to apply pesticides. The Environmental Proinvestigating alternative insecticides for control is tection Agency (EPA) places pesticides into four desired. For this investigation, research based on toxicity categories (1-4) based on the results of acute field experimental data from Florida, Georgia, and toxicity studies on test animals, usually rats and Louisiana during the 1988 and 1989 growing sea- rabbits (EPA). These four categories are: (1) highly sons were employed. Results indicate that alterna- toxic, (2) moderately toxic, (3) slightly toxic, (4) and tive, currently available, and less toxic insecticides low toxicity (Georgia Cooperative Extension Servmay reduce producer costs, increase yield, and im- ice) Toxicity is measured in LD5o, the dosage reprove soybean quality. These alternative insecti- quiredtokill50percentofthetestanimals (Cohrssen cides include Scout (tralomethrin), Karate andCovello,p.39). The lower the L 5o, the more (lambda-cyhalothrin), Orthene (acephate), and t ch emical. Baythroid (cyfluthrin). In terms of improved profits In the past decade, methyl parathion, used for these alternative insecticides may dominate methyl soybean stink bug control, was one of the most parathion or encapsulated methyl parathion. widely adopted pesticides throughout the southern region. Application of methyl parathion mitigates

Two approaches to knowledge engineering are demonstrated using the soybean insect pest management expert simulation system SMARTSOY. SMARTSOY incorporates the soybean crop growth simulation model SOYGRO as part of its knowledge base. The positivistic approach to knowledge engineering attempts to duplicate thought processes of domain experts in order to arrive at conclusions while the normative approach attempts to duplicate the conclusions of domain experts without consideration of their thought processes. These contrasting approaches require different knowledge engineering techniques and validation procedures. Validation, evaluation and calibration of the two approaches are demonstrated using SMARTSOY for 84 field scenarios.

Stochastic returns generated by a productive asset are investigated for the replacement problem with rejuvenation. Optimal replacement and rejuvenation conditions, given collinearities among multiple outputs, are considered for alternative levels of producer risk preference. This methodology is applied to a laying hen replacement problem. Results indicate that risk-averse producers should consider less rejuvenation and shorter rejuvenation production periods. Also, replacement decisions should occur later in the year for peak production to coincide with high output prices.

New state and national legislation attempts to limit the liability of agricultural chemical users by emasculating existing strict liability standards and replacing them with negligence standards. The allocation of contamination costs and precaution level between producers and victims of contamination associated with these alternative legislative standards is investigated. The analysis employed is a dynamic game theoretic framework considering moral hazard. Based on this analysis, a new institutional response is recommended to assign property rights based upon propensity and severity of injury and to require victim precaution.

The purpose of this study was to determine the economic risk efficiency of implementing a boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis [Boheman]) eradication (BWE) program in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) producing regions of the Mississippi Delta. Alternative producer pest management practices and program cost sharing were incorporated into a biophysical cotton simulation model. Participation in a BWE program along with strict adherence to Cooperative Extension Service pest management guidelines proved to be the risk efficient practice.

Expert systems methodology has shown considerable promise as an information technology. However, limited knowledge of how current information technologies relate to the decision process impedes the adoption of expert systems. Thus, a consistent theoretical development of how expert systems relate to the decision process is presented. The significance of developing an economic theory of expert systems is substantiated with an empirical application investigating a soybean pest management decision process. Pest management recommendations from extension bulletins and the expert system are compared with an expert's recommendations. Results indicate the potential improvement in decision-making processes with the adoption of expert systems. Copyright 1991 by Oxford University Press.

This paper is concerned with the intertemporal The importance of timeliness is investigated in the stochastic impacts of timeliness issues related to selection of machinery complements for double- machinery choice. Timeliness has received considcrop wheat and soybean production in the erable attention in the machinery selection literature. southeastern coastal plain. An intertemporal However, previous research has only focused on stochastic simulation model was developed to planting delays caused by excess soil moisture. On generate probability distributions that were sandy soils with limited moisture retention capacity, evaluated with stochastic dominance analysis. This inadequate moisture for germination can also cause research investigated the importance of intertem- planting delays. Furthermore, spring planting delays poral production linkages and inadequate soil mois- can influence production in the next period. Brink ture on machinery selection. Failure to include these and McCarl demonstrated that planting delays dimensions can result in erroneous machinery postpone crop maturity and harvesting, which may choices. preclude fall tillage operations (such as plowing) in preparation for spring planting the following year.

Integrated pest management (IPM) programs in soybean, Glycine max (L). production have not been widely adopted by farmers in the southeastern United States. A biophysical growth model for soybean was used to investigate pest control strategies to determine possible underlying reasons for low participation rates of farmers in IPM. Results indicated that prophylactic insecticide applications resulted in superior economic outcomes when compared with a strategy based on extension economic threshold guidelines.