Washington Biofuel Feedstock Supply under Price Uncertainty

Biofuels, as alternative transportation fuels, are now being used globally. Taking advantage of in-state feedstock supply is an efficient way to stimulate in-state biofuel industries and the local economy. This paper uses the mean-variance model of utility maximization to estimate supply equations for major biofuel feedstock crops in Washington. We consider price risk, examine the comparative statics results of the model, and use the results to draw important decision-making implications for Washington farmers who are considering production of biofuel feedstocks. Of three potential feedstock crops, only one shows immediate promise in Washington.biofuel feedstock, price uncertainty, supply, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

Washington Biofuel Feedstock Crop Supply Analysis

Biofuels, as alternative transportation fuels, are now being used globally. Taking advantage of in-state feedstock supply is an efficient way to stimulate in-state biofuel industries and the local economy. This paper uses several models to estimate supply equations for major biofuel feedstock crops in Washington. We estimate expected utility maximization models, expected profit maximization models, and several pragmatic models. We examine the comparative statics results of the models, and use the results to draw important implications for Washington policy makers and for farmers who are considering production of biofuel feedstocks.biofuel feedstock, output uncertainty, price uncertainty, profit maximization, supply

Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Change Consumers’ Food Consumption and Willingness-to-Pay? The Case of China

Since COVID-19 was first detected in China in 2019, governments around the world have imposed strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which substantially impacted people’s life. Consumers’ food consumption behavior has also changed accordingly with reduced grocery shopping frequency, replaced in-person grocery shopping with online shopping, and increased valuation on food. In this paper, we aim to investigate the change in Chinese consumers’ food consumption and their willingness to pay (WTP) for vegetables and meat, using a dataset with 1206 online samples collected between February and March 2020. Consumers’ WTP for vegetables and meat is estimated using a double-bounded dichotomous contingent valuation design, and factors affecting their WTPs are also investigated. Results show that consumers have a higher WTP for these food products during the pandemic, and their WTP is positively affected by their anticipated duration of the COVID-19, their online shopping shares, their direct exposure to infected patients, their gender, and their income. These results imply that the food industry shall try to develop online market channels as consumers are willing to share the costs, while lower-income consumers may not be able to meet their food needs with prices increased beyond their WTP and thus may call for the government’s support

Survivin-based recombinant overlapping peptides induce t lymphocyte cytotoxicity and prolong the survival in in vivo melanoma model

Anti-cancer vaccination emerged as a promising and cost-effective immunotherapy, but the lack of immunogenicity has hindered the success of therapeutic vaccine development. To address this issue and improve therapeutic efficacy, this study presents the examination of recombinant overlapping peptides (ROP) based on the tumor-associated antigen, survivin, on in vivo immunogenicity and anti-tumor efficacy using a melanoma C57/BL mouse model. Results show that ROPs induce a remarkable 46.5% cytotoxic activity mediated by activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes, compared to only 3% in wild-type (WT) survivin protein. Additionally, ROPs significantly reduce tumor size by over 500 mm3 and prolong survival rates in mice with zero deaths in the first 17 days and 30% survival at the end of day 23, while no mice immunized with WT survivin protein survive beyond day 20. ROPs combined with anti-4-1BB agonists lead to additional tumor size reduction by 500 mm3 and 70% survival on day 23. These findings underscore the importance of survivin as a trigger for tumor-restricting immunity and provide therapeutic evidence of ROPs' anti-tumor potential, especially when combined with other immunostimulants, such as anti-4-1BB agonists. ROPs and adjuvant immunostimulants represent a potent vaccine strategy for therapeutic purposes, increasing vaccine immunogenicity and improving survival against cancer

Production, Consumption and Risk in Agricultural Economics

This dissertation consists of three studies that estimate models for agricultural risk, production and consumption. Crop yield distributions are modeled and risks evaluated to make recommendations for insurance premiums for developing risk management tools. Crop supply for biofuels is estimated by incorporating crop yield and price risk. Consumer apple variety choice and demand are analyzed based on a large household-level dataset.The first study applies a nonparametric method to estimate bivariate yield distributions based on farm-level yield data of wheat and corn in Shandong Province and wheat and rice in the Yangtze River Delta area in China. The simulated yield distributions are used to evaluate the expected indemnity of one traditional and one hypothesized crop insurance program. Our results indicate that nonparametric methods are very flexible in describing the shapes of yield density functions to reveal local idiosyncrasies and correlation between two crops. The hypothesized two-crop insurance contract is affordable to farmers than traditional individual crop insurance contracts.The second study uses three models to estimate supply equations under output price and quantity uncertainty for major biofuel feedstock crops in Washington State. Farmers are assumed to be risk averse and maximize the expected utility of profit and uncertainty. Based on state, regional, and national data, we find low likelihood that Washington crop producers will become a major source of crop-based biofuel feedstocks in the foreseeable future.The third study uses household-level Nielson Homescan data to analyze consumer apple variety choices and demands with a two-step estimation model. This paper combines prices, household demographics, state dependence variables, as well as regional and seasonal effects to analyze household apple variety choices and purchases. We find that price and income play an important role in both the purchase and quantity decisions of a household. Household demographic characteristics such as age and presence of kids have different impacts on purchases by varieties, which can be explained by the internal attributes and uses/functions of specific apple varieties. Significant regional and seasonal effects are also found

Washington Biofuel Feedstock Supply under Price Uncertainty

Biofuels, as alternative transportation fuels, are now being used globally. Taking advantage of in-state feedstock supply is an efficient way to stimulate in-state biofuel industries and the local economy. This paper uses the mean-variance model of utility maximization to estimate supply equations for major biofuel feedstock crops in Washington. We consider price risk, examine the comparative statics results of the model, and use the results to draw important decision-making implications for Washington farmers who are considering production of biofuel feedstocks. Of three potential feedstock crops, only one shows immediate promise in Washington

Consumer Purchase Intentions for Sustainable Wild Salmon in the Chinese Market and Implications for Agribusiness Decisions

Sustainable food consumption and production play an increasingly important role in improving food security and quality in the food system worldwide. Consumers’ food consumption patterns in China, a rapidly emerging economy with the largest population and one of the largest consumer markets in the world, significantly influence the structure of global trade flows and the sustainable ecosystem and environment. In this paper, we assess the emerging demand for imported wild and sustainable Alaskan salmon fillet and varietal parts in China’s market through consumers’ stated purchase intentions for the products. We use an ordered logit model to link consumers’ purchase intentions with potential influencing factors and identify important factors, including consumers’ consumption habits, perceptions, and social demographic characteristics. Due to differences between western and Chinese consumers on how different parts of fish are consumed, seemingly low-value salmon heads and bones may carry significant value if being imported and sold to Chinese consumers. We believe that our study is an important step in helping to build a sustainable business model, thereby creating a win-win situation for both the importing and exporting countries in order to allocate resources efficiently, feed people with healthy food, avoid food waste, and fulfill the economic value of products

Estimating Farm Level Multivariate Yield Distribution Using Nonparametric Methods

Modeling crop yield distributions has been an important topic in agricultural production and risk analysis, and nonparametric methods have gained attention for their flexibility in describing the shapes of yield density functions. In this article, we apply a nonparametric method to model joint yield distributions based on farm-level data for multiple crops, and also provide a way of simulation for univariate and bivariate distributions. The results show that the nonparametric models, both univariate and bivariate, are estimated quite well compared to the original samples, and the simulated empirical distributions also preserve the attributes of the original samples at a reasonable level. This article provides a feasible way of using multivariate nonparametric methods in further risk and insurance analysis