EATING OUT: AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FOOD FOR THE POOR AND THE FOOD INSECURE

Food consumption behaviors in food secure and food insecure households are compared. A two-stage budgeting and a double-hurdle model are used in the estimation. The results of the paper show that both food away from home and food at home are normal goods for both food secure and food insecure households. However, the effects of family structure on food consumption differ for the two household types. For food secure households, having one more child or one more working family member results in a larger marginal increase in food consumption than that for food insecure households. In addition, households with married heads of household are more likely to eat out in food secure households but less likely to eat out in food insecure households compared to households with unmarried heads of household.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Impact of Nonfarm Activities on Agricultural Productivity in Rural China

Although evidence abounds that the development of rural non-farm activities have increased rural household income and contributed to rural development, the underlying structure and mechanism of the linkage between agricultural productivity and non-farm activities is poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset of Chinese villages, this article examines the mechanism by which non-farm activities influence agricultural productivity. I find that Chinese villages’ non-farm revenue has a significant positive effect on agricultural land productivity. Although non-farm activities do withdraw labor out of agriculture and therefore dampen land productivity, that negative effect is negligible in comparison with the land productivity improvement brought by nonfarm revenue-financed infrastructure capital investment.Rural non-farm activities, labor migration, agricultural productivity, infrastructure capital., Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, O13, Q18,

LIQUOR AND BEVERAGE CONSUMPTION IN CHINA:A CENSORED DEMAND SYSTEM APPROACH

This paper estimated the Liquor and Beverage Consumption based on a Chinese survey data. The results showed that beer consumption has been relatively stable during the past 10 years. However, there exists large potential wine market in china.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Is Investment in Agricultural Research a Good Substitute for Price Support in U.S. Cotton?

This article examines the effects of R&D on cotton yield and relationship between R&D and commodity support programs. The results indicate that yield elasticities with respect to cotton R&D is around 0.2-0.5 based on different regions. It further indicates that R&D increases government expenditures when both commodity programs and R&D funding exist. However, if the future WTO Doha negotiations rules out the possibility of price support programs, increasing R&D funding may provide one of the solutions for farmers to recover their income with 5-6 years lag.cotton, R&D, commodity support programs, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Food Calorie Intake under Grain Price Uncertainty: Evidence from Rural Nepal

This study evaluates the effects of grain output price uncertainty on the farm income of rural households and, consequently, how this uncertainty influences caloric intake through changes in farm income. Using a rural household data set, augmented with output price uncertainty measures calculated from historical time-series data, we find that grain output price uncertainty tends to decrease crop production income of rural households. In addition, we find that higher crop income from production increases calorie intake of rural households. Taken together, these results suggests that output price uncertainty during the production process may tend to reduce caloric intake of rural Nepalese households since the price uncertainty negatively affects the crop income households need to buy calorie-rich staple foods.Food Calorie Intake, Price Uncertainty, Nepal, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, D12, O13, Q11, Q12,

The Impacts of U.S. Cotton Programs on the West and Central African Countries Cotton Export Earnings

This study uses a stochastic simulation approach based on a partial equilibrium structural econometric model of the world fiber market to examine the effects of a removal of U.S. cotton programs on the world market. The effects on world cotton prices and African export earnings were analyzed. The results suggest that on average an elimination of U.S. cotton programs would lead to a marginal increase in the world cotton prices thus resulting in minimal gain for cotton exporting countries in Africa.Stochastic simulation, partial equilibrium model, United States, Africa, cotton subsidies, export earnings, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Does the Food Stamp Program Affect Food Security Status and the Composition of Food Expenditures?

This article considers interaction among participation in the Food Stamp Program (FSP), food security status, and the composition of food expenditures. A quadratic almost ideal demand system with a bootstrapping two-step method of estimation is applied to data from the Current Population Survey–Food Security Supplement data and used to estimate the model and account for endogeneity between the FSP participation and food insecurity. The results show that FSP participation is endogenously related with food security status and significantly affects total food expenditure and food-away-from-home expenditures.food away from home, food insecurity, food stamps, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Q18, R21, I32,

PRICE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE U.S. FIBER MARKETS: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR COTTON INDUSTRY

The paper examined the price relationship between cotton and polyester. The results provide strong evidence of long term price transmissions and granger causality between cotton and polyester price as well as the asymmetry transmissions for cotton on cotton, cotton on polyester, and polyester on polyester price. However, we did not find any evidence that there exists asymmetry transmission for polyester price on cotton price. Our results also did not support the contemporaneous effects hypothesis between polyester price and cotton price.Demand and Price Analysis,

Response of Cotton to Oil Price Shocks

This paper shows that the response of cotton prices in the U.S. to fluctuations in oil prices in the international market may differ greatly depending on whether the increase is driven by demand or supply shocks in the crude oil market. In the long-run, around 3 percent of the variability in cotton prices can be attributed to shocks to global demand for industrial commodities while none can be traced to oil supply shocks.cotton, oil price, demand shocks, supply shocks, structural vector autoregression (SVAR), Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Q11, Q41,

The Impacts of Eliminating the Direct Payments on the U.S. Cotton Market

This study analyzes the effects of eliminating direct payments paid to cotton farmers in the U.S. Our results suggest that while the impact of eliminating direct payments on domestic production is offset to some extent by rising prices, the more significant effect is on farmers’ net income.Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics,