REAL EXCHANGE RATE DETERMINANTS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: Do Macroeconomic Fundamentals and Political Risk Play a Role?

Replaced with revised version of poster 07/21/11.International Relations/Trade, Risk and Uncertainty,

MANAGING PRICE RISK IN COTTON PRODUCTION USING STRATEGIC ROLLOVER HEDGING

Research on rollover hedging for agricultural commodities has focused on the consequences of using existing contracts to substitute for missing long-term contracts. It appears that some grains are candidates for rollover hedging while livestock is not. Cotton was analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of rollover hedging from 1982 to 1999. This paper demonstrates that strategic rollover hedging can be used as a substitute for missing long-term futures market and increase expected returns in cotton production. The estimated results reported average returns of 62.22, 65.36, 75.80, 79.09, and 69.14 cents per pound for cash sale, single-year hedge, 5, 2.5, and 1% three-year strategic rollover hedging strategies, respectively. Thus, it appears returns for three-year strategic rollover hedging were about 20% higher than under the other two strategies.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,

Impact of School Tobacco-Free Policy and Tobacco Risk Education on Youth Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use

Background: Smoking rates have declined over the last half-century, however, e-cigarette use has more than tripled in the recent years. Tobacco-risk education and tobacco-free policies are critical policy instruments to help prevent youth tobacco use. This study evaluates the impact of these policies on youth cigarette and e-cigarette use. Methods: Data from the 2013/2015 Georgia Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is used to test for statistical differences in tobacco use status across school-based tobacco control policies and estimate their impact on cigarette and e-cigarette use. Data includes 5,285 participants representing 2013 middle school (n=2,099), 2013 high school (n=1,775), and 2015 high school (n=1,411). Current cigarette and e-cigarette use is measured as having used them in the past month. Students were asked if their school has a tobacco-free policy and if they were taught in classes about why they should not use tobacco. Multivariate logistic regression and Chi-squared tests are used to analyze data. Results: The use of cigarettes among high school students has decreased, however the use of e-cigarettes has increased. Strong statistical associations exist between tobacco-use behavior and tobacco-control policies, however, these associations were not consistent across all cohorts. Smoking disparities exist where males, White and Hispanic students smoked at much higher rates. Conclusions: The rise of e-cigarette popularity may have significant health effects and become a gateway to smoking cigarettes. The positive impact of tobacco-free policies on youth cigarette use is counter-intuitive and may be the result of adoption of tobacco-free policies by the schools where tobacco use is of a significant concern, hence, higher smoking rates. Future research should examine the effects of these policies, their enforcement, and length of existence in detail to provide more evidence into the effectiveness of these policies

U.S.-EU BANANA WAR: IMPLICATIONS OF RETALIATORY TARIFFS ON PECORINO CHEESE

This paper illustrates the economic impact of the U.S. countervailing trade policy because of the European Union's failure to adhere to the dispute panel findings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the banana dispute. The United States subsequently imposed prohibitive tariffs (100% ad valorem) on imports of selected EU products as countervailing policy. The estimated loss in consumer surplus for Pecorino cheese was $4.96 million per year as a result of the U.S. retaliatory trade policy. Tariff revenue and deadweight losses were$1.86 and $3.10 million, respectively. Italian producers are expected to lose$8.55 million in revenue due to reduced exports to the United States. Thus, the estimated welfare loss for Italian producers is nearly twice that for U.S. consumers.International Relations/Trade,

U.S.-MEXICO SUGAR DISPUTE: IMPACT OF NAFTA ON THE SUGAR MARKET

A side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enables Mexico to ship more duty-free sugar to the United States than under the pre-1994 restrictive country-specific, tariff-rate quota (TRQ) policy. But U.S. and Mexican negotiators disagree over the issue of exactly how much sugar Mexico can actually export to the U.S. under the NAFTA side agreement. Disagreement focuses on which version of the NAFTA side agreement governs this issue. The U.S. argues that a 1993 side letter limits Mexican sugar exports to the U.S. to 250,000 MT. In contrast, Mexico insists it is entitled to ship all of its surplus sugar, currently 600,000 MT, to U.S. Consequently, Mexico has asked for a dispute-settlement panel to resolve the question under NAFTA. Three TRQ liberalization scenarios were simulated to show the possible policy implications. The simulation results report that, due to the sugar TRQ liberalization with Mexico, the net U.S. social welfare increases but U.S. producers lose.International Relations/Trade,

U.S. - MEXICO SUGAR DISPUTE: IMPACT OF NAFTA ON THE SUGAR MARKET

A side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enables Mexico to ship more duty-free sugar to the United States than under the pre-1994 restrictive country-specific, tariff-rate quota (TRQ) policy. But U.S. and Mexican negotiators disagree over the issue of exactly how much sugar Mexico can actually export to the U.S. under the NAFTA side agreement. Disagreement focuses on which version of the NAFTA side agreement governs this issue. The U.S. argues that a 1993 side letter limits Mexican sugar exports to the U.S. to 250,000 MT. In contrast, Mexico insists it is entitled to ship all of its surplus sugar, currently 600,000 MT, to U.S. Consequently, Mexico has asked for a dispute-settlement panel to resolve the question under NAFTA. Three TRQ liberalization scenarios were simulated to show the possible policy implications. The simulation results report that, due to the sugar TRQ liberalization with Mexico, the net U.S. social welfare increases but U.S. producers lose.International Relations/Trade,

Attitudes and Beliefs of Physical Therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant Program Directors in the United States Towards Interprofessional Education

Purpose: To investigate the attitudes and beliefs of physical therapy (PT) and physical therapist assistant (PTA) program directors towards interprofessional education (IPE). We hypothesized that Communication and Ethics would be the most important competencies among program directors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey based on previously utilized instruments modified for the profession of PT was sent to PT and PTA program directors. One hundred sixteen responses were analyzed using frequency analysis for demographic data and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U t-test for group differences. Results: While the majority of program directors agree that IPE is important, with Communication as the most important IPE competency, most PTA program directors do not support the importance of accreditation in implementing IPE (pConclusion:Program directors agree that IPE is vital to student learning, with Communication as the most important IPE competency. However, specific differences between PT and PTA program directors emerged primarily on IPE implementation, the role of accreditation, resource support, and resource utilization