DYNAMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND PUREBRED CATTLE MARKETS

Vector autoregression was utilized to investigate dynamic relationships existing between prices of purebred bulls and prices of slaughter steers, utility cows, feeder calves, and cow-calf pairs. Results suggest purebred bull prices respond most quickly to an increase in utility cow prices (proxy for slaughter bull prices). Feeder calf prices exhibited the most pronounced positive effect on the price of herd sires, with a lagged response which took over two years to build.Demand and Price Analysis,

EFFECT OF CONTRACT DISCLOSURE ON PRICE: RAILROAD GRAIN CONTRACTING IN THE PLAINS

The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 granted railroads freedom to establish rates and enter into confidential contracts with grain shippers. Recent legislation (1986) required that certain contract terms be disclosed. This study shows rail rates in the Plains region commenced an upward trend after implementation of the disclosure policy. Results suggest contract disclosure and increased reliance on posted tariffs facilitated rate coordination within the oligopolistic railroad industry.Public Economics,

Is the Soybean Checkoff Program Working?

The primary objective of this study is to answer two key questions regarding the U.S. soybean checkoff program over time: (1) What have been the effects of the soybean checkoff program on U.S. and world soybean and soybean product markets? (2) Has the soybean checkoff program benefited soybean producers? To answer the first key question, the effects of the soybean checkoff program on U.S. and foreign soybean, soybean meal, and soybean oil supplies, demands, prices, and trade over the 1980/81 through 2006/07 time period are measured. Those results are then used to answer the second question in a benefit-cost analysis of the soybean checkoff program to measure the overall return to producers from soybean checkoff and related expenditures over the years. In general, the study concludes that the expenditure of soybean checkoff funds to invest in production research and to promote the demand for soybeans and soybean products at home and abroad has been highly effective in enhancing the profitability, competiveness, and size of the U.S. soybean industry since at least 1980/81.Soybean, Soybean Checkoff, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Productivity Analysis,

Cointegration and Causality Analysis of World Vegetable Oil and Crude Oil Prices

Because of the recent soaring petroleum price and growing environmental concerns, biodiesel has become an important alternative fuel. Biodiesel is the mono alky esters made from a vegetable oil, such as soybean or rapeseed oil, or sometimes from animal fats. The escalation in world petroleum price has stimulated the demand for biodiesel, which consequently expanded the use of vegetable oils. This paper investigates the long-run interdependence between major edible oil prices and examines the dynamic relationship between vegetable and crude oil prices. The data consists of 378 weekly observations extending from the first week of January in 1999 to the fourth week of March in 2006. We apply time-series analytical mechanisms and directed acyclic graphs to four major traded edible oils prices, including soybean, sunflower, rapeseed and palm oils, along with one weighted average world crude oil price. Tentative results suggest one long-run cointegration relationship among those five oil prices. Also, the edible oil markets are well linked in contemporaneous time with the palm oil market initiating the new information; however, soybean oil price dominates the edible oil markets in the long run. The influence of crude oil price on edible oil prices is not significant over the study period.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

LOCK CONGESTION AND ITS IMPACT ON GRAIN BARGE RATES ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

An anticipated increase in lock delays on the upper Mississippi River has generated concern about its future navigational efficiency. The objective of this paper is to identify selected factors affecting lock delay on the River's busiest locks and to examine the impact of lock delay on grain barge rates. Results show that lock unavailability, traffic level, and delay at nearby locks affect lock delay. Further, barge rates are affected by lock delay, however, the impact is modest.Public Economics,

INCORPORATING GOVERNMENT PROGRAM PROVISIONS INTO A MEAN-VARIANCE FRAMEWORK

E-V studies traditionally have relied on historical data to calculate returns and variance. Historical data may not fully reflect current conditions, particularly when decisions involve government-supported crops. This paper presents a method for calculating mean and variance using subjectively-estimated data. The method is developed for both government-supported and non-program crops. Comparisons to alternative methods suggest the approach provides reasonable accuracy.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Asset liability modelling and pension schemes: the application of robust optimization to USS

This paper uses a novel numerical optimization technique - robust optimization - that is well suited to solving the asset-liability management (ALM) problem for pension schemes. It requires the estimation of fewer stochastic parameters, reduces estimation risk and adopts a prudent approach to asset allocation. This study is the first to apply it to a real-world pension scheme, and the first ALM model of a pension scheme to maximise the Sharpe ratio. We disaggregate pension liabilities into three components - active members, deferred members and pensioners, and transform the optimal asset allocation into the scheme’s projected contribution rate. The robust optimization model is extended to include liabilities and used to derive optimal investment policies for the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), benchmarked against the Sharpe and Tint, Bayes-Stein, and Black-Litterman models as well as the actual USS investment decisions. Over a 144 month out-of-sample period robust optimization is superior to the four benchmarks across 20 performance criteria, and has a remarkably stable asset allocation – essentially fix-mix. These conclusions are supported by six robustness checks

A mutation in a functional Sp1 binding site of the telomerase RNA gene (hTERC) promoter in a patient with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the gene coding for the RNA component of telomerase, hTERC, have been found in autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita (DC) and aplastic anemia. Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a clonal blood disorder associated with aplastic anemia and characterized by the presence of one or more clones of blood cells lacking glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored proteins due to a somatic mutation in the PIGA gene. METHODS: We searched for mutations in DNA extracted from PNH patients by amplification of the hTERC gene and denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC). After a mutation was found in a potential transcription factor binding site in one patient electrophoretic mobility shift assays were used to detect binding of transcription factors to that site. The effect of the mutation on the function of the promoter was tested by transient transfection constructs in which the promoter is used to drive a reporter gene. RESULTS: Here we report the finding of a novel promoter mutation (-99C->G) in the hTERC gene in a patient with PNH. The mutation disrupts an Sp1 binding site and destroys its ability to bind Sp1. Transient transfection assays show that mutations in this hTERC site including C-99G cause either up- or down-regulation of promoter activity and suggest that the site regulates core promoter activity in a context dependent manner in cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: These data are the first report of an hTERC promoter mutation from a patient sample which can modulate core promoter activity in vitro, raising the possibility that the mutation may affect the transcription of the gene in hematopoietic stem cells in vivo, and that dysregulation of telomerase may play a role in the development of bone marrow failure and the evolution of PNH clones