MARKET ISSUES PERTAINING TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN LATIN AMERICA

The extent to which Latin America can pull itself out of persistent poverty in the foreseeable future depends, in an important manner, on how successful the region will be in achieving sustainable growth in its rural economies. A good strategy for sustainable growth in rural Latin America is to make sure that the market works for the poor. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it is to lay out some of the issues important to the successful functioning of the key markets in rural Latin America, including labor market, financial market, land market, and agricultural factor and product markets. Second, it is to present policy suggestions regarding how to ensure that the market works for the rural poor. While governments should continue their refrains of not intervening directly with the market and distorting price signals, they can play a very positive role in facilitating market reforms and in ensuring that the rural poor indeed emerge as winners.Food Security and Poverty,

Cutoff AdS3_3 versus the TTˉT\bar{T} deformation

A recent proposal relates two dimensional holographic conformal field theories deformed by the integrable $T\bar{T}$ flow to AdS$_3$ with a finite radial cutoff. We investigate this proposal by studying perturbative correlation functions on the two sides. For low point correlators of the stress tensor, we successfully match the deformed CFT results at large central charge to bulk results obtained in classical pure gravity. The deformed CFT also provides definite predictions for loop corrections in the bulk. We then include matter fields in the bulk. To reproduce the classical bulk two-point function of a scalar operator we show that the deformed CFT needs to be augmented with double trace scalar operators, with the $T\bar{T}$ operator yielding corrections corresponding to loops in the bulk.Comment: 26 page

Estimating Threshold Effects of Generic Fluid Milk and Cheese Advertising

Replaced with revised version of paper 08/01/06.Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Estimating Threshold Effects of Generic Fluid Milk and Cheese Advertising

Marketing,

MODELING PRICE IMPACTS OF BACKWARD VERTICAL INTEGRATION IN THE US PORK INDUSTRY

The U.S. pork sector is evolving from an industry of small, independent firms vertically linked by spot markets to one of substantially larger firms vertically connected through contractual agreements and integration. Potential benefits to this tighter vertical arrangement include lower consumer pork prices, although the true nature of this benefit is still under debate. At the same time, there is concern of market foreclosure because highly vertically integrated industry may prevent independent hog producers from having access to open markets in which to sell their output. The objective of this paper is to develop an econometric model to estimate the extent of backward integration by pork processing firms into the upstream hog production stage, taking into account the oligopsonistic nature of the processors, and to simulate the effect of vertical integration on consumer and producer prices and welfare.backward vertical integration, oligopsony, pork, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Evaluation of geophysical parameters measured by the Nimbus-7 microwave radiometer for the TOGA Heat Exchange Project

The data distributed by the National Space Science Data Center on the Geophysical parameters of precipitable water, sea surface temperature, and surface-level wind speed, measured by the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on Nimbus-7, are evaluated with in situ measurements between Jan. 1980 and Oct. 1983 over the tropical oceans. In tracking annual cycles and the 1982-83 E1 Nino/Southern Oscillation episode, the radiometer measurements are coherent with sea surface temperatures and surface-level wind speeds measured at equatorial buoys and with precipitable water derived from radiosonde soundings at tropical island stations. However, there are differences between SMMR and in situ measurements. Corrections based on radiosonde and ship data were derived supplementing correction formulae suggested in the databook. This study is the initial evaluation of the data for quantitative description of the 1982-83 E1 Nino/Southern Oscillation episode. It paves the way for determination of the ocean-atmosphere moisture and latent heat exchanges, a priority of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Heat Exchange Program

DISENTANGLING THE EFFECTS OF GENERIC ADVERTISEMENT FROM HEALTH INFORMATION WITHIN A MEAT DEMAND SYSTEM

This paper examines the effect of generic pork promotion within a meat demand system framework. Special focus has been placed on the separation of demand effect of advertising from that of health-related information on product attributes.Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing,

Estimating Structural Changes in the Vertical Price Relationships in U.S. Beef and Pork Markets

This paper examines structural breaks in the vertical price relationships in U.S. beef/cattle and pork/hog sectors using monthly data of the past 40 years. A major methodological issue addressed is how to estimate price relationships when data contain intermittent structural breaks with unknown break dates. The adopted procedures endogenously search for structural break dates while explicitly accounting for this search in statistical inferences. Four breaks for the beef/cattle price relationship and three breaks for the pork/hog price relationship are identified. The estimation results further confirm the importance of allowing for structural breaks in the analysis of vertical price relationships.farm cattle and hog prices, long-run price relationship, retail beef and pork prices, structural breaks of unknown timing, structural changes, vertical price relationship, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

The effects of New Cooperative Medicine Scheme coverage on health outcomes and health care in rural China

health insurance, rural population, China, Health Economics and Policy,