THE INFLUENCE OF AMENITIES AND QUALITY OF LIFE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ALABAMA

Replaced with revised version of paper 02/13/04.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

U.S. Cotton Subsidies: Are Brazil's Accusations True?

International Relations/Trade,

A source-differentiated analysis of tropical fresh fruit imports

A source-differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System model is used to analyze U.S. demand for the major tropical fresh fruit imports from different countries of origin. The tropical fresh fruits chosen for analysis include fresh bananas, fresh pineapples, papayas, and mangoes/guavas. To address endogeneity problem, we utilized an iterative 3SLS estimation method. Results show that consumer incomes are a major determinant of tropical fresh fruit import demand and most of the tropical fresh fruit imports are luxury commodities. U.S. consumers have a preference for Guatemalan and Costa Rican bananas, Costa Rican and Honduras pineapples, and Ecuador and Mexican mangoes. A competitive relationship exists between bananas from Ecuador and Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, Costa Rica, and Ecuador and bananas in general face competition from the other tropical fresh fruits, particularly from most pineapple and mango sources, and all the other fresh fruit imports. Based on the study findings, the countries of origin could determine how they could increase their products market share in the U.S. and likely impact of price changes of their commodity. For example, Mexico could utilize price competition strategies to retain and regain its declining U.S. mango market share.Tropical Fresh Fruits, Source-Differentiated AIDS model, Import Demand, Crop Production/Industries,

The Role of Underemployment in Employee’s Overall Job Satisfaction: The Alabama Case.

Job satisfaction is an important measure of utility that employees derive from their jobs and is related to various features of the job such as pay, security, intrinsic values of work, working conditions, career growth opportunities, working hours, and the like. This paper analyzes the relationship between underemployment and overall job satisfaction among other personal and job characteristics of the workforce in Alabama using survey data from Alabama workforce development regions. A logistic model is used to analyze the determinants of job satisfaction in Alabama including underemployment. Estimation results show a negative relationship between underemployment and job satisfaction. Personal and work-related attributes such as education, age, work hours, and gender are also shown to influence employee job satisfaction.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Industrial Organization, Labor and Human Capital,

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND CONVERSION IN THE SOUTHEAST

We estimate a system of equation model to understand the factors that influence the loss of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses in the Southeast United States. This is done by analyzing the complex relationship between population, employment, and agricultural land density for the 1990-2000 period. From the results, it can be noted that growth in employment over time and the expansion of residential housing have to be compromised with the agricultural sector on the use and allocation of land

Dynamic Estimation of U.S. Demand for Fresh Vegetable Imports

This paper analyses U.S. demand for fresh vegetable imports using a dynamic AIDS model. The commodities selected for the study include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and asparagus. The results shows that the demand for fresh vegetable imports is more elastic compared to the demand for domestic fresh vegetables. Also demand for all the fresh vegetables is significantly responsive to changes in own-price and expenditure. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, and cucumber imports do not complement domestic supply as is often believed but are significant substitutes

THE INFLUENCE OF AMENITIES AND QUALITY OF LIFE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ALABAMA

A structural model of regional economic growth is estimated using Two-Staged Least Squares method to determine the role of quality of life attributes on rural economic growth. Selected socioeconomic indicators are constructed mainly from U.S Census Bureau and regressed on three simultaneous equations explaining the major proxy indicators of growth in Alabama: population, employment and per capita income growth rates. Results show strong relationship between initial conditions, quality of life measures and rural growth

Analysis of U.S. Demand for Fresh Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Imports

This paper estimates a demand system for a selected tropical fresh fruit and vegetable imports in to the U.S. using a Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand Systems model for the period 1989-2008. Further the paper attempts to capture trade policy and seasonality effects that affect the demand for fresh fruit and vegetable imports. Results show that most of the price elasticities of demand have the expected signs and less than unity magnitude except for tomatoes. Complimentary commodities include bananas and papayas, grapes, and mangoes, peppers and tomatoes and avocados, and tomatoes and cucumber. Substitutes include pineapples and papayas, grapes and papayas, and mangoes and tomatoes. Trade policy and seasonality are also found to affect fresh fruit and vegetable imports

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED AMENITIES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ALABAMA

The paper extends the work of Deller et al (2001) by introducing a spatial component in a structural growth model to capture the role of spatially distributed variables using county-level data. The premise of the analysis is that what is true at a national level may provide a partial or misleading picture when we look at particular areas. Additionally, data available at the state level can often provide richer, more precise information than what is found at the national level, so we try to explore in more depth the role of spatially distributed amenities in economic development by examining, for instance the valuable Alabama countryside features such as natural habitats, scenic landscapes and warm weather amidst a poverty of infrastructure. The estimated results demonstrate a strong relationship between quality of life amenities and economic growth; with most conforming to theory and expectations while others exhibit unexpected relationship