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Abstract:
This paper examines methods frequently used by agricultural economists to measure the cost of farm labor, including operator and other unpaid, and to provide insights for improving them. The tradition is broken of treating labor and management separately, and labor is defined as encompassing all the productive activities of individuals or human agents used in a business, including farming. Conceptual issues are first addressed: 1) the nature of economic cost and the cost of unpaid labor, and 2) time allocation in agricultural household models where an individual's annual time endowment is allocated potentially to leisure, farm work, and off-farm work. Measurement issues are addressed second: 1) specific methods for improving the measurement of the cost of farm labor, and 2) specific procedures for estimating the opportunity cost of operator and unpaid farm labor. The overall goal is to obtain better farm cost and return estimates.

Abstract:
The paper presents an econometric model of dynamic agricultural input demand functions that includes research based technical change and autoregressive disturbances and fits the model to data for a set of state aggregates pooled over 1950-82. The methodological approach is one of developing a theoretical foundation for a dynamic input demand system and accepting state aggregate behavior as approximated by nonlinear adjustment costs and long-term profit maximization. Although other studies have largely ignored autocorrelation in dynamic input demand systems, the results show shorter adjustment lags with autocorrelation than without autocorrelation. Dynamic input demand own-price elasticities for six input groups are inelastic, and the demand functions poses significant cross-price and research stock effects.

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No abstract available.

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No abstract available.

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Food products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients have entered the market over the past decade. The biotech industry and environmental groups have disseminated conflicting private information about GM foods. This paper develops a unique methodology for valuing independent third-party information in such a setting and applies this method to consumers willingness to pay for food products that might be GM. Data are collected from real consumers' in an auction market setting with randomized information and labeling treatments. The average value of third-party information per lab participant is small, but the public good value across U.S. consumers is shown to be quite large.

Abstract:
The objective of this article is to provide new empirical evidence on landlord-tenant choices of share versus cash-rent contracts in U.S. agriculture. The focus is on the contribution of explanatory variables that represent transaction costs, risk-sharing incentives, or both. An empirical model of contract choice is tested against the 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey (AELOS) and finds mixed evidence for low transaction cost and risk-sharing-incentive motives for landlord-tenant choices of a share versus cash-rent contract. However, the behavior of landlords and tenants is consistent with them being risk averse. Although it is standard to control for the riskiness of the principal's task that is contracted, we find that other attributes of the landlord are an important part of a relatively complex story for U.S. land tenancy contacting. The latter results have generally been ignored in other published landlord-tenant contracting studies.

Abstract:
This article presents econometric estimates of the adult working-age male hazard function of interstate migration fitted to data obtained from migration decisions of adult males over a twenty-year period. The results show a strong negative effect of the real wage difference between origin and destination, and of fixed costs associated with a move, on the hazard rate of interstate migration. Farmers and other self-employed males, and males who have school-age children, have unusually low hazard rates of interstate migration. Although a high crime rate is shown to increase the real wage, it also has a separate positive effect on the hazard of migration.

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This article examines the impact of public agricultural research and extension on agricultural total factor productivity at the state level. The objective is to establish whether federal formula or competitive grant funding of agricultural research has a greater impact on state agricultural productivity. A pooled cross-section time-series model of agricultural productivity is fitted to annual data for forty-eight contiguous states over 1970-1999. Our results show that public agricultural research and agricultural extension have statistically significant positive impacts on state agricultural productivity. In addition, Hatch formula funding has a larger impact on agricultural productivity than federal competitive grant funding, and a reallocation of Hatch formula funds to competitive grant funding would lower agricultural productivity. This seems unlikely to be a socially optimal policy. Furthermore, from a cost-benefit perspective, our study shows that the social marginal annualized real rate of return to public resources invested in agricultural research is 49-62%, and to public agricultural extension, the rate is even larger.

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No abstract available.

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The recent literature on agricultural technology adoption shows that diffusion of new technologies varies significantly across space and time. Furthermore, puzzles exist about why some seemingly profitable technologies are not adopted, especially in livestock production. We employ a hazard or duration function to explain diffusion of crossbred-cow technology in a unique sample of Tanzania farmers. A farmer's adoption of crossbred technology depends positively on the proximity of his farm to other users, on his schooling, and on his access to credit and contact with extension agents.

Africa, duration models, livestock technology, proximity, spatial, technology diffusion

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No abstract available

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Controversy surrounds the introduction of genetically modified foods. One key issue relates to tolerance levels - the impurity rate tolerated before a commodity must be labeled. Currently, the United States has not defined a tolerance level for genetically modified foods. This paper uses data from experimental auctions to test whether consumers prefer foods with 0, 1, or 5% tolerance levels for genetically modified material. We conclude consumers would pay less for food that tolerates genetically modified material, but find no evidence that consumers' place different values on foods with 1 and 5% genetically modified content.

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No abstract available.

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A conceptual analysis of important issues in the organization and management of academic research is presented. Principal-agent theory is applied to derive optimal compensation schemes for scientists when they differ in ability, risk aversion, cost of effort, and reservation utility, and to show the optimal trade-off between institutional risk and scientists' abilities. Implications for an efficient organization of research are derived, including how scientists' incentives should be structured to elicit optimal research efforts and direction, whether research direction should be centralized or decentralized, and whether the organization of research should be through external competitive grants or program and institutional funding.

Abstract:
State crop, livestock, and aggregate agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) data, 1950-82, are examined for evidence of convergence to a single TFP level (sigma-convergence) or to a steady state rate of conditional convergence). Our empirical results do not support sigma-convergence but do support beta-convergence. The rate of beta-convergence is variable and depends on research and development R&D) spillins from other states, private R&D, and farmers' schooling. The finding of strong positive interstate spillover effects implies that independent state planning of agricultural research is inefficient and cooperation across states boundaries including establishment of new political jurisdictions for financing public agricultural research can enhance efficiency.