COMMENTARY ON EXCHANGE RATE IMPACTS ON HOG/PORK COMPETITIVENESS

Agribusiness,

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF MANUFACTURER CONSOLIDATION ON THE GROCER SECTOR

Agribusiness,

LESSONS FROM QUAKER OATS

One of the biggest challenges faced by food manufacturers and the agriculture and food industry in general, is the fact that many food products are mature product lines. That means that sales are essentially steady - at best. In fact by its very nature, the food industry is characterized by relatively steady growth at relatively narrow profit margins. In mature markets, competition typically takes the form of price-cutting and gains by one firm are often at the expense of another. From that point the entire product line or category can become nothing more than a commodity that is priced as low as possible and simply milked for whatever profits are possible. That is not an enviable position, nor is it a position that a firm can easily escape. When an example occurs in which a mature product category is revived from the mature stage, it is worth taking a close look at how it was done. Lessons learned from one firm or product category might be applied to another in order to escape the clutches of maturity and commoditization. The purpose of this note is to examine the case of Quaker Oats rice cakes and how that firm twice managed to escape the clutches of product maturity.Agribusiness,

BEEF DEMAND AND HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY RISKS

The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on beef demand. More specifically, however, the purpose of the paper is to show how Canadian producers, processors and industry associations have helped to improve beef demand as a result of determined, focused efforts. By having the courage to address sensitive topics like health and safety, the beef industry has helped to improve the most important issue that they faced: the demand for their product.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

MANDATORY PRICE REPORTING - ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MISPLACED GOVERNMENT EFFORT IN AGRICULTURE

Agricultural and Food Policy,

SOME PERSPECTIVE ON THE US NATIONAL PORK PRODUCERS' COUNCIL'S CLAIMS ABOUT CANADIAN SWINE SUBSIDIES

Agricultural and Food Policy,

The real exchange rate process and its real effects: The cases of Mexico and the USA

Exchange rate management is a salient macroeconomic issue, especially in developing countries. In this paper, we study political economy factors that may affect the real exchange rate (RER) process and the real economic effects of the RER. We review recent literature on the effects of elections on the exchange rate, and adapt Ball’s (1992) model to show that uncertainty about the future course of policy may make more appreciated RER’s less predictable. We also review the literature on the real effect of RER appreciations and of RER uncertainty. We then construct a simultaneous GARCH-M model of the joint determination of the RER and output capable of testing our hypotheses simultaneously in a single model. We estimate the model using data first from Mexico, a developing country, and the US. In Mexico we find that elections significantly affect the evolution of the RER, that more appreciated RERs are less predictable, that RER depreciations lower output growth and that RER uncertainty lowers output growth, even when controlling for its wellstudied effect on trade. By contrast, none of these effects are found in the US data.real exchange rate volatility, economic growth, electoral cycle

El papel de la estrategia cambiaria en el comportamiento económico de países en desarrollo: evidencia para 1997

We examine the effect of different exchange rate regimes on the economic behavior of 16 developing countries during 1997. While current account deficits predict well the subsequent degree of currency depreciation, holding constant the deficit, the exchange rate regime in place at the beginning of the year is statistically irrelevant. However, countries with a fixed exchange rate at the beginning of 1997 suffered significantly larger stock market losses (measured in U.S. dollars) than those with floating rates. Given these results, we question the wisdom of encouraging developing countries to create and defend fixed exchange rates.

The Asymmetric Effects of Uncertainty on Inflation and Output Growth

We study the effects of growth volatility and inflation volatility on average rates of output growth and inflation for post-war U.S. data. Our results suggest that growth uncertainty is associated with higher average growth and lower average inflation. Inflation uncertainty is significantly negatively correlated with both output growth and average inflation. Both inflation and growth display evidence of significant asymmetric response to positive and negative shocks of equal magnitude.growth, inflation, uncertainty, asymmetry, generalised impluse response functions

PRICE DISCOVERY MECHANISMS AND ALTERNATIVES FOR CANADIAN AGRICULTURE; Part I: A Review of Pricing Mechanisms in Agriculture

The purpose of this section is to review pricing mechanisms in agriculture and food. We started by constructing a taxonomy and system of classification for pricing mechanisms that is rooted in economic theory. This framework was applied to 26 pricing mechanisms observed from the following product categories: · Beef · Hogs · Grains and oilseeds · Dairy · Poultry and Eggs · Processed Food and HorticultureDemand and Price Analysis,