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,

Rate-dependent morphology of Li2O2 growth in Li-O2 batteries

Compact solid discharge products enable energy storage devices with high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, but solid deposits on active surfaces can disturb charge transport and induce mechanical stress. In this Letter we develop a nanoscale continuum model for the growth of Li2O2 crystals in lithium-oxygen batteries with organic electrolytes, based on a theory of electrochemical non-equilibrium thermodynamics originally applied to Li-ion batteries. As in the case of lithium insertion in phase-separating LiFePO4 nanoparticles, the theory predicts a transition from complex to uniform morphologies of Li2O2 with increasing current. Discrete particle growth at low discharge rates becomes suppressed at high rates, resulting in a film of electronically insulating Li2O2 that limits cell performance. We predict that the transition between these surface growth modes occurs at current densities close to the exchange current density of the cathode reaction, consistent with experimental observations.Comment: 8 pages, 6 fig

Fund Flows, Manager Changes, and Performance Persistence

Most empirical studies suggest that mutual funds do not persistently outperform an appropriate benchmark in the long run. We analyze this lack of persistence in terms of two equilibrating mechanisms: fund flows and manager changes. Using data on actively managed US equity mutual funds, we find that if neither mechanism is operating, winner funds (top-decile ranked in previous year) continue to significantly outperform loser funds (bottom-decile ranked in previous year) by 4.08 percentage points per annum. However, the difference between previous winner and loser funds declines to zero within one year if the two mechanisms are acting together. Thus, equity mutual fund out- and underperformance are unlikely to persist in well-functioning financial markets

Polyclonal B-cell activation by a synthetic analogue of bacterial lipoprotein is functionally different from activation by bacterial lipopolysaccharide

The reactivity of 38 murine strains to a synthetic analogue of bacterial lipoprotein, tripalmitoyl-pentapeptide (TPP), was tested and compared with the reactivity to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These strains include common laboratory mice and H-2 recombinant inbred lines, as well as some newly bred lines originating from animals recently captured in different regions of Europe. All animals analysed were reactive to TPP and polyclonally activated to proliferation and immunoglobulin synthesis. Large differences in mitogen reactivities of various H-2 recombinant inbred strains suggest that MHC or closely linked gene products influence the reactivity to the LPS and TPP mitogens. By analysing the frequencies of precursor cells reactive to TPP or LPS and the isotype patterns obtained after stimulation, we demonstrated that both mitogens activate individual B cells in different ways.Peer reviewe

Modulation of protein kinase C activity by NaF in bone marrow derived macrophages

AbstractStimulation of murine bone marrow derived macrophages with NaF, prelabeled with [1-14C]oleate and [3H]inositol, increased the production of inositol phosphates and the release of 1,2-[14C]diacylglycerol (DAG). Moreover, NaF also induced activation of protein kinase C. These results indicate that bone marrow derived macrophages exhibit a phosphatidyl-4,5-bisphosphate phospholipase C activity, sensitive to NaF, which might be modulated by G-proteins. Activation of protein kinase C could have been mediated by NaF-induced release of DAG