IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON CROPPING PRACTICES IN ALBERTA

A Target MOTAD farm-level model was developed to assess the expected impacts from global warming on representative grain and oilseed farms in Alberta. It was found that a warmer climate would increase crop yields and length of the cropping season. Net returns and shadow values of land would increase substantially. Price risk generally was more important than yield risk under simulated warmer climates.Environmental Economics and Policy,

ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET FACTORS AND REGIONAL PRICE DYNAMICS IN U.S. CATTLE MARKETS

Regional live cattle prices are decomposed into two components: (a) a trend common to all regional cattle price series and (b) regional deviations or price dynamics around that trend. Tests are developed to determine if market factors are related to the regional price deviations around a common trend. Slaughter volume, distance between a market and the next closest, and forward contract deliveries are significantly related to price deviations from the estimated common trend.Livestock Production/Industries,

Principal-Agent Relationships in Agricultural Cooperatives: An Empirical Analysis from Rural Alberta

Cooperatives throughout North America are consolidating at an increasing rate and for a variety of reasons. While many cooperatives merge with others or are acquired to achieve greater economies of scale, several fail due to changes in the external economy, which make them redundant. Often, such redundancy is reflected in a heightened sense of member dissatisfaction. Many argue that such dissatisfaction is likely to arise in cooperatives as a result of principal-agent problems. In order to determine whether or not cooperative managers maintain the same goals as their owners, this study uses data from a member-survey to compare Alberta cooperative members' objectives with those they believe to be held by their cooperatives' managers. An econometric model of the difference between members' expectations and perceptions shows how various socioeconomic variables affect the extent to which these objectives are aligned. The results of this analysis can help cooperative boards design managerial incentive programs to better align their goals with those of the cooperative membership.Agribusiness,

ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET FACTORS AND REGIONAL PRICE DYNAMICS IN U.S. CATTLE MARKETS

Regional live cattle prices are decomposed into two components: (a) a trend common to all regional cattle price series and (b) regional deviations or price dynamics around that trend. Tests are developed to determine if market factors are related to the regional price deviations around a common trend. Slaughter volume, distance between a market and the next closest, and forward contract deliveries are significantly related to price deviations from the estimated common trend

IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON CROPPING PRACTICES IN ALBERTA

A Target MOTAD farm-level model was developed to assess the expected impacts from global warming on representative grain and oilseed farms in Alberta. It was found that a warmer climate would increase crop yields and length of the cropping season. Net returns and shadow values of land would increase substantially. Price risk generally was more important than yield risk under simulated warmer climates

Determination of Focal Pricing Regions for U.S. Fed Cattle

Concerns over the imperfect market structure of the beef sector arise due to potential price discovery impacts. This study presents an effective way of providing information on price discovery that can be used to indicate regions within which prices follow similar dynamics. A state space model was fit to fourteen years of weekly data on nineteen price series from U.S. fed cattle markets. Tight regional market price interrelationships were discovered indicating that, in general, prices cannot move independently in the long run. The dynamics of the system of prices revealed the existence of between five and seven focal price discovery regions. Copyright 1998, Oxford University Press.

Principal-Agent Relationships in Agricultural Cooperatives: An Empirical Analysis from Rural Alberta

Cooperatives throughout North America are consolidating at an increasing rate and for a variety of reasons. While many cooperatives merge with others or are acquired to achieve greater economies of scale, several fail due to changes in the external economy, which make them redundant. Often, such redundancy is reflected in a heightened sense of member dissatisfaction. Many argue that such dissatisfaction is likely to arise in cooperatives as a result of principal-agent problems. In order to determine whether or not cooperative managers maintain the same goals as their owners, this study uses data from a member-survey to compare Alberta cooperative members' objectives with those they believe to be held by their cooperatives' managers. An econometric model of the difference between members' expectations and perceptions shows how various socioeconomic variables affect the extent to which these objectives are aligned. The results of this analysis can help cooperative boards design managerial incentive programs to better align their goals with those of the cooperative membership