INTERNATIONAL VARIATION OF RETURN ON EQUITY IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES

The objective was to analyze the effects of country and firm specific factors on the return on equity in the beverage and tobacco and food and consumer products industries for eleven industrialized nations. The results indicated that country and firm specific factors were important in explaining variation in return on equity within countries but not generally across countries or time.variation on return in equity, globalization, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Designing Catastrophe Bonds to Securitize Systemic Risks in Agriculture: The Case of Georgia Cotton

This article makes an initial attempt to design catastrophe (CAT) bond products for agriculture and examines the potential of these instruments as mechanisms for transferring agricultural risks from insurance companies to investors/speculators in the global capital market. The case of Georgia cotton is considered as a specific example. The CAT bond contracts are based on percentage deviations of realized state average yields relative to the long-run average. The contracts are priced using historical state-level cotton yield data. The principal finding of the study is that the proposed CAT bonds demonstrate potential as risk transfer mechanisms for crop insurance companies.CAT bonds, catastrophe bond pricing, catastrophe insurance, disaster risk, reinsurance, risk securitization, Risk and Uncertainty,

Determinants of Household Participation in Rural Development Projects

This paper provides evidence for determinants of households participation in rural development projects. Study findings are based on qualitative analysis and logistic estimation of a random utility model. Households with higher incomes appear less likely to participate; those with more labor are more likely. Availability of activities of interest to community members could enhance participation.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

COMPUTERIZED MARKETING FOR FRESH PRODUCE - A DEVELOPMENT FOR TODAY

Marketing,

PROFITABILITY ADJUSTMENT PATTERNS IN INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES

The study encompasses an analysis of the variation in speeds of profitability adjustment and accounting bias by developed country and firm size for two important agribusiness industries. Evidence of speeds of profitability adjustment and accounting bias varying by firm size was found in the beverage and tobacco industry and by country in the food and consumer products industry. This suggests that the competitive pressures of integrated international markets are less of a factor in the food and consumer products industry.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

A Suggested Criterion for Selecting between E-V and Stochastic Dominance Analysis Tools

Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Pasture Weaning and Forage Barley to Extend the Grazing Season for Replacement Heifers

In a two-year study at the SDSU Cow/Calf Teaching and Research Unit, Brookings, SD, heifer calves were allotted to two weaning management treatments in early October at an average age of 202 days. The pasture-weaned group was separated from their dams and grazed grass pasture across the fence from their dams for two weeks. Then, until early December, they grazed “Robust” barley (forage type) that had been no-till planted into oat stubble in early August. The drylot-weaned group was fed a traditional weaning diet of grass hay, corn, and protein supplement from weaning until early December. The effect of management on heifer weight gain depended on year. In the first year, pasture-weaned heifers gained more than the drylot group during the first two weeks after weaning. Due to less than ideal pasture conditions in the second year, the drylot group gained more than the pasture weaned group for two and four weeks after weaning. In both years, gains from weaning to the end of the grazing period in December and to the following April were similar between management systems. Pasture weaning appeared to cause less stress for both cows and calves, but no differences in disease symptoms were observed. Antibody titers for IBR, BVD type 1 and BVD type 2 were determined at weaning and two and four weeks after weaning to measure the development of immunity from vaccinations administered two months prior to and at weaning. At two weeks after weaning in the second year of the study, antibody titer for BVD type 1 was greater for the drylot group than the pasture-weaned group. By four weeks after weaning the pasture-weaned heifers had antibody titers similar to the drylot group. The results of this study indicate that pasture weaning combined with small grain pasture to extend the grazing system can be an effective alternative for managing replacement heifers compared to a traditional drylot weaning system

An introduction to numerical methods and analysis

Praise for the First Edition "". . . outstandingly appealing with regard to its style, contents, considerations of requirements of practice, choice of examples, and exercises.""-Zentrablatt Math "". . . carefully structured with many detailed worked examples . . .""-The Mathematical Gazette "". . . an up-to-date and user-friendly account . . .""-Mathematika An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis addresses the mathematics underlying approximation and scientific computing and successfully explains where approximation methods come from, why they sometimes work (or dJames F. Epperson, PHD, is Associate Editor of Mathematical Reviews. Dr. Epperson received his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, and his research interests include the numerical solution of nonlinear evolution equations via finite difference methods, the use of kernel functions to solve evolution equations, and numerical methods in mathematical finance

Subsidizing Unit Donations: Matches, Rebates, and Discounts Compared

An influential result in the literature on charitable giving is that matching subsidies dominate rebate subsidies in raising funds. We investigate whether this result extends to ‘unit donation’ schemes, a popular alternative form of soliciting donations. There, the donors’ choices are about the number of units of a charitable good to fund at a given unit price, rather than the amount of money to give. Comparing matches and rebates as well as simple discounts on the unit price, we find no evidence of dominance in our online experiment: The three subsidy types are equally effective overall. At a more disaggregate level, rebates lead to a higher likelihood of giving while matching and discount subsidies lead to larger donations by donors. This suggests that charities using a unit donation scheme enjoy additional degrees of freedom in choosing a subsidy type. Rebates merit additional consideration if the primary goal is to attract donors

Chaos-driven dynamics in spin-orbit coupled atomic gases

The dynamics, appearing after a quantum quench, of a trapped, spin-orbit coupled, dilute atomic gas is studied. The characteristics of the evolution is greatly influenced by the symmetries of the system, and we especially compare evolution for an isotropic Rashba coupling and for an anisotropic spin-orbit coupling. As we make the spin-orbit coupling anisotropic, we break the rotational symmetry and the underlying classical model becomes chaotic; the quantum dynamics is affected accordingly. Within experimentally relevant time-scales and parameters, the system thermalizes in a quantum sense. The corresponding equilibration time is found to agree with the Ehrenfest time, i.e. we numerically verify a ~log(1/h) scaling. Upon thermalization, we find the equilibrated distributions show examples of quantum scars distinguished by accumulation of atomic density for certain energies. At shorter time-scales we discuss non-adiabatic effects deriving from the spin-orbit coupled induced Dirac point. In the vicinity of the Dirac point, spin fluctuations are large and, even at short times, a semi-classical analysis fails.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure