PRICE-CONDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Economics theorists for years have considered the possibility that the direction of technical change is altered by changes in relative prices. Prices also have been identified as one of the determinants of technical change through innovation. This article extends the theory of the firm to cover situations in which the firm’s' technology set is conditional on expected prices. The basic idea is to distinguish between “"market prices,"” or the prices that guide the firm’s choices subject to the technology that is in place, and “"normal prices,"” the prices conditioning the choice of technology. A “"generalized”" price effect is obtained that included the traditional price effect as well as the technical change effect of price changes, and an example is presented.Demand and Price Analysis,

Public Inputs and Endogenous Growth in the Agricultural Sector: a Dynamic Dual Approach

This paper examines growth in the U.S. agricultural sector under the conditions hypothesized by endogenous growth theory. Public capital and R&D are explicitly considered to capture the effects of public inputs in a model based on dynamic duality theory. Results support some necessary conditions for this hypothesis to be true.International Development,

PUBLIC CAPITAL, R&D, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND ENDOGENOUS GROWTH

The paper examines growth in the U.S. agricultural sector under the conditions hypothesized by endogenous growth theory. Public capital and R&D in agriculture are explicitly considered to capture the effect of public inputs. Results support some of the necessary conditions for this hypothesis to be true.Agricultural and Food Policy, Public Economics,

Public Inputs and Productivty in the Agricultural Sector: A Dynamic Dual Approach

This paper introduces a dynamic model of productivity measurement based on recent endogenous growth theories. The model presented in this study is based on dynamic duality theory and incorporate public goods (public capital and R&D) as external factors to the firms. It also rationalizes the provision of public inputs by a benevolent social planner that internalizes the effects of them. Moreover, the Le Chatelier principle is extended for this dynamic duality modelin which the public factors are quasi-fixed for the firm and all firm-specific inputs can be adjusted in the long run. Therefore, increasing returns to scale over all inputs can still be tested at the long-run equilibrium perceived by the firm. Additionally, this model permits deriving testable hypotheses related to the two conditions of endogenous growth theory mentioned above. The model is tested with data for the U.S. agricultural sector.endogenous growth, dynamic productivity, public goods, duality, U.S. agriculture

DYNAMIC PRICING OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP TRAITS

This paper considers the time path of prices for crop traits such as herbicide resistance, specifically whether they conform to Coase's conjecture that monopoly prices can't be sustained on durables. While property rights determine whether such traits are durables, prices for RR soybeans and Bt corn are consistent with Coase.Crop Production/Industries,

The Effects of Public R&D on U.S. Agriculture: A State-Level Analysis

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND WELFARE IN AN ECONOMY WITH DISTORTIONS

Traditional measures of the benefits of technological change use producer prices. Consumer-oriented measures are more appropriate but they require knowledge of price impacts. They may diverge in the presence of distortions. This paper shows that in general equilibrium they are interrelated differing by the price effect of the technological change.Demand and Price Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

INTERVENTIONS AND PRODUCTION SECTOR WASTE IN LDC AGRICULTURE

Recent studies have revealed that less developed countries (LDCs) have been taxing their agricultural sectors at rates of 40-50%. This study uses quantity-based general equilibrium measures of deadweight loss to evaluate the cost of these distortions in 18 of these countries. The Allais-Debreu loss measures indicate that from 7-16% of either output or of the agricultural resource base has been wasted due to the associated misallocation of agricultural inputs across these countries.Production Economics,

Dynamic pricing of Genetically Modified Crop Traits

The issue considered here is the retail pricing of patented crop traits such as Roundup Ready herbicide resistance or Bt insect resistance. Our concern is not with the price of the seeds in which the traits are embodied, but rather with the implicit or explicit price for the traits themselves. Intellectual property rights are now available for traits, and while monopoly pricing of them has received some limited consideration in theeconomics literature1, no one has yet examined the possible implications of the durability of these traits as a factor in determining such monopolists' pricing behavior.Coase, dynamic monopoly, traits.

Have Price Policies Damaged LDC Agricultural Productivity?

This paper examines agricultural policies in 18 developing countries over the period 1961-1985. We measure productivity with both a nonparametric Malmquist index and a production function, confirming previous findings of declining agricultural productivity, but with sufficident inconsistencies as to raise concern about the adequacy of the methods. We nontehless find considerable support for the hypothesis that unfavorable price policies have damaged agricultural performance in these countries.Agricultural productivity, developing countries, price policies