Hemispheric specialization in selective attention and short-term memory: a fine-coarse model of left- and right-ear disadvantages.

Serial short-term memory is impaired by irrelevant sound, particularly when the sound changes acoustically. This acoustic effect is larger when the sound is presented to the left compared to the right ear (a left-ear disadvantage). Serial memory appears relatively insensitive to distraction from the semantic properties of a background sound. In contrast, short-term free recall of semantic-category exemplars is impaired by the semantic properties of background speech and is relatively insensitive to the sound’s acoustic properties. This semantic effect is larger when the sound is presented to the right compared to the left ear (a right-ear disadvantage). In this paper, we outline a speculative neurocognitive fine-coarse model of these hemispheric differences in relation to short-term memory and selective attention, and explicate empirical directions in which this model can be critically evaluated

ECONOMIC FACTORS DETERMINING CHANGES IN DRESSED WEIGHTS OF LIVE CATTLE AND HOGS

Livestock dressed weights have experienced significant trends and volatility which affect wholesale production of red meats. An econometric model was used to estimate the impact of relative prices and technology on cattle and hog average dressed weights. For fed steers and heifers, the economic incentives affecting placement weights and weight added in feedlots were considered. Results indicate quarterly dressed weights of steers and heifers respond to contemporaneous profitability ratios and to lagged feeder prices, the effects being highly inelastic. Cow dressed weights also responded while hog dressed weights did not respond to profitability ratios. Technology changes may have accounted for about 83% of dressed weight growth for steers and about 62% for hogs from 1980-97.Livestock Production/Industries,

Demand and Supply Factors in the Feed Grain Market: Effects on Corn Producers

Demand and Price Analysis,

USDA DATA REVISIONS OF CHOICE BEEF PRICES AND PRICE SPREADS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ESTIMATING DEMAND RESPONSES

Reduced form price equations were estimated to compare market demand responses from two data sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) beef price and price spread data per revisions in 1978 and per revisions in 1990. The latest revisions were necessary to account for changing beef industry technology and product consumption in the 1980s. Results indicate the elasticities of retail and derived demands average about 25 and 17% lower, respectively, when using the 1990 revised data. Trends and lag adjustments played an important role. The analyses suggest careful interpretation of demand responses when time series data lag technology conditions in the market.Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

Relative Volatility in the U.S. Beef Market

Marketing,

Distribution of Cost Efficiencies in the Beef Marketing Channel

Marketing,

Evaluation of Beef Promotion Expenditures Under the U.S. Beef Checkoff Program

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Feed Grain Volatility and Effects on Feeder Cattle Producers

Production Economics,

ECONOMIC FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE U.S. BEEF PRICE SURGE IN 2003

Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

U.S. BEEF TRADE AND PRICE RELATIONSHIPS WITH JAPAN, CANADA, AND MEXICO

U.S. live cattle and beef trade has increased substantially since the mid-1980s. Total beef imports (cattle and beef, dressed weight) increased from 2.51 billion pounds in 1985 to 3.89 billion pounds in 1998. Total beef exports (cattle and beef, dressed weight) increased from 0.42 billion pounds to 2.38 billion pounds over the same period. Consequently, net imports declined by 0.58 billion pounds. On a value basis, U.S. net beef exports (value of total beef exports less the value of total beef imports) has become considerably less negative, increasing by 88 percent from 1980 to 1998. The overall improvement in the U.S. beef trade was characterized, however, by different trade impacts with the major export customers and import suppliers. These countries are Japan, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Trade relationships and beef price effects in this article mainly address those of the first three countries. From 1990 to 1998, U.S. net imports of live cattle and beef (carcass weight) for all countries declined from 9.2 percent to 5.2 percent of total U.S. beef supplies. Given the average market price for that period and the coefficient of price flexibility, this decline implied an increase in nominal slaughter steer price of $4.00/cwt. However, this price effect was offset by other factors in the domestic market, such as large competitive production, increasing dressed weights, increasing wholesale-retail margins, and a decrease in consumer beef demand. Japan constitutes about 54 percent of the export market for U.S. beef. This country has been the fastest growing export market for high-value cuts of U.S. beef; quantities exported increased by 101 percent from 1990 to 1998. Strong economic growth (until 1997), trade liberalization, and changes in dietary preferences account for most of the increase. The result of these expanding exports, as a percentage of total beef disposition, was an increase in slaughter steer price of$1.70/cwt. U.S. beef and live cattle trade with Mexico has improved considerably (until recent import tariffs on U.S. beef); that is, net beef exports were negative at 357 million pounds in 1990 but became positive at 200 million pounds in 1998. Declines in imported Mexican cattle and increases in U.S. beef exports account for the change. Mexico currently accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. beef exports. The result of erasing the trade deficit over the 1990 to 1998 period was an increase in slaughter price of $2.12/cwt. The U.S.-Mexican net trade position in beef and live cattle may remain volatile in the future, however. The U.S. net beef trade position with Canada has declined considerably. Including trade in live cattle and beef, net imports from Canada increased from 2.7 percent to 5.2 percent of U.S. beef supplies from 1990 to 1998. In general, imports (cattle and beef) have significantly increased, while exports (cattle and beef) have increased little over this period. Reasons for the increased deficit include Canadian grain policies and feedlot expansion, U.S. excess capacity in meatpacking, a strong U.S. dollar and intercountry price differentials. The result was a reduction in U.S. slaughter price of$2.55/cwt. Economists, however, consider the U.S.-Canadian beef markets to be highly integrated. Thus, reducing the trade deficit may have little impact on U.S. slaughter price. Overall, U.S. trade in live cattle and beef has not reached the same importance as that of grain. Nevertheless, U.S. export and import quantities measured as a percentage of supplies or disposition imply that producer price effects are not zero. Domestic factors of beef dressed weights, red meat and poultry production, beef margins, feed costs, and consumer beef demand still dominate the price determination picture. The provisional tariff imposed on Canadian exports of live cattle, but recently removed by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), would have slightly increased U.S. price and decreased Canadian price. But with compensating Canadian carcasses and beef entering the U.S. market, and increased slaughter costs, the gains may have been nullified.International Relations/Trade,