DISCUSSION: AGRICULTURAL PRICES IN THE 1970'S: HOW WILL VALUE BE ESTABLISHED?

Demand and Price Analysis,

RECYCLING OF SOLID WASTES - A CLASSIC PROBLEM IN SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Environmental Economics and Policy,

FACTORS AFFECTING PRODUCER BARGAINING POWER IN SOUTHERN FLUID MILK MARKETS

Industrial Organization,

ADMINISTERED PRICING BY COOPERATIVES: EFFECT ON PRODUCER AND CONSUMER PRICES AND SALES OF FLUID MILK

Demand and Price Analysis,

Interregional and International Competition in the Dairy Industry

International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

DETERMINANTS OF DEMAND FOR BEEF: THE IMPACT OF FAT TRIMMING

Beef products, lower fat, consumer demand, demand elasticities, Demand and Price Analysis,

Southern Dairy Farmers' Evaluation of Milk Handlers

Southern dairy farmers' perception of their cooperative's or proprietary handler's performance, level of satisfaction with the milk handler, and reasons for staying with the handler, or for shifting handlers, were evaluated. The data were from a 1989 mail survey of Southern dairy farmers. The dairy farmers' differing evaluations of their milk handlers depended on the type of handler they dealt with, geographic location, and/or the characteristics of the farm and farmer. Generally, dairy farmers were concerned about price, deductions, and assessments. The price farmers received appeared to be a significant factor affecting farmers' satisfaction level. There appeared to be a tradeoff between price and deductions versus service, and market and payment assurance. Dairy farmers wanted cooperatives to provide an assured market for members' milk.Cooperative, milk handler, proprietary handler, assured market, price, S-217, Agribusiness,

FACTORS INFLUENCING SOUTHERN DAIRY FARMERS' CHOICE OF MILK HANDLERS

Survey data of 2,538 dairy farmers located in 12 southern states were used to analyze the factors influencing farmers' choice of milk handlers. Results from a qualitative response model indicate that a combination of price and non-price factors contribute to dairy farmers' attitudes toward their milk handlers. Specifically, the decision to change milk handlers was significantly influenced by prices paid and deductions charged. However, non-price factors including field services, friendly personnel, and loyalty to a handler contributed to the longer term affiliation of dairy farmers with their milk handlers.Dairy farmers, Milk handlers, Market channels, Qualitative response, Marketing, Agribusiness,

FACTORS INFLUENCING FARMERS' SELECTION OF A MILK HANDLER

A structural probit model is estimated to determine the change in the probability of selecting a milk handler. Cooperatives are thought to have lower prices and higher deductions than independent milk handlers and these factors reduce the probability that a farmer will select a cooperative by 0.39 and 0.32. Cooperatives are thought to have better services and an assured market and payment than independent mile handlers and these factors increase the probability that a farmer will select a cooperative by 0.20 and 0.26. This indicates that many cooperative members value monetary characteristics over non-monetary characteristics.Cooperatives, Processors, Attributes, Selection, Probit, Dairy, Livestock Production/Industries,

The Effects of Evolutionary Adaptations on Spreading Processes in Complex Networks

A common theme among the proposed models for network epidemics is the assumption that the propagating object, i.e., a virus or a piece of information, is transferred across the nodes without going through any modification or evolution. However, in real-life spreading processes, pathogens often evolve in response to changing environments and medical interventions and information is often modified by individuals before being forwarded. In this paper, we investigate the evolution of spreading processes on complex networks with the aim of i) revealing the role of evolution on the threshold, probability, and final size of epidemics; and ii) exploring the interplay between the structural properties of the network and the dynamics of evolution. In particular, we develop a mathematical theory that accurately predicts the epidemic threshold and the expected epidemic size as functions of the characteristics of the spreading process, the evolutionary dynamics of the pathogen, and the structure of the underlying contact network. In addition to the mathematical theory, we perform extensive simulations on random and real-world contact networks to verify our theory and reveal the significant shortcomings of the classical mathematical models that do not capture evolution. Our results reveal that the classical, single-type bond-percolation models may accurately predict the threshold and final size of epidemics, but their predictions on the probability of emergence are inaccurate on both random and real-world networks. This inaccuracy sheds the light on a fundamental disconnect between the classical bond-percolation models and real-life spreading processes that entail evolution. Finally, we consider the case when co-infection is possible and show that co-infection could lead the order of phase transition to change from second-order to first-order.Comment: Submitte