ABSTRACT This study determines the impact of U.S. government policies on U.S. ethanol market and its consequences for the U.S. corn, sugar, and HFCS markets. Using corn as the primary input in ethanol and HFCS production in the United States, along with the substitutability between sugar and HFCS, has linked the U.S. ethanol market to the U.S. HFCS, sugar, and corn markets. To address the problem, two sets of data, quarterly and annual data, were collected and a simultaneous econometric model was constructed. Estimated results show that the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act will increase the domestic corn price and ethanol and HFCS production costs. Increases in HFCS production costs decrease the comparative advantage of HFCS over sugar and will encourage HFCS users to replace HFCS with sugar. HFCS will lose its comparative advantage over domestic raw sugar after 2009. Without government policies that mandate consumption levels for ethanol, depending on gasoline and corn prices, maximum corn-based ethanol production would be between 1.5 and 19.6 billion gallons per year in year 2015. In the case of having mandatory ethanol consumption, there will be a minimum quantity of ethanol consumption and production, equal to 15 billion gallons per year in 2015. Depending on the relative levels of corn and gasoline prices, annual corn-based ethanol production will be between 15 and 19.6 billion gallons in 2015. With regards to the profitability of sugar-based ethanol production, the U.S. sugar support program plays a critical role. Using raw sugar, at world sugar price levels, for producing ethanol, sugar can compete with corn when corn prices reach $5.49 per bushel, when the ethanol production level approaches 9.3 billion gallons annually. With the sugar support program in force, raw and refined sugar cannot compete with corn in the near future. Removal of the sugar import quota decreases sugar production and price while sugar imports and consumption increase. This allows sugar to be considered as a viable feedstock for the production of ethanol. Using sugar for ethanol production reduces the amount of corn needed for ethanol production, suppresses the corn price, and stabilizes the corn market.

A large body of empirical literature has investigated the linkages between exports and output. Nevertheless, empirical evidence remains inconclusive and the topic remains open to discussion. Additionally, a number of studies have examined the positive effects that export diversification may have on economic growth. Within the Latin America region, Costa Rica has been lauded for its long democratic tradition, relative economic stability, and for evolving from being a small economy heavily reliant on exports of coffee and bananas, to become the largest software exporter per capita in Latin America. This study examined the impact that the expansion and diversification of Costa Rican export supply had on economic growth. The first study provides a historical analysis of the export diversification experience in Costa Rica from the 1965 until the present. For that, a chronological assessment of the main policies and events leading to the transformation of Costa Rican export supply was presented. This paper concludes that Costa Rica was able to move its economy away from commodity dependence because of important amounts of foreign direct investment over the last two decades. Furthermore, export diversification in Costa Rica is characterized by weak linkages between multinational corporations, operating in the free trade zones, and the rest of the economy. The second paper tests the hypothesis of a long-run relationship between export diversification and economic growth in Costa Rica via externalities of learning-by-exporting and learning-by-doing. The period of analysis was from 1965 to 2006, and two types of statistical methodologies were used: the bounds test for cointegration within a distributed lag (ARDL) framework and a dynamic OLS (DOLS) model. Overall, results concluded that export diversification had no long-run effect on economic growth during the study period. The third paper tests the export-led growth (ELG) hypothesis in Costa Rica using a modified version of the Wald test for three different models for the period of 1960 to 2007 and 1965 to 2006. The ELG hypothesis was confirmed only when imports were included in the estimation. Granger-causality was also found running from imports to exports likely due to large amounts of imported inputs for multinational firms.

The presence of mercury in the U.S. fish supply is a growing public health concern. At high levels, mercury can be harmful to humans and ecosystems, and represents a growing threat not only to public health, but also to the economic and ecological viability of many fisheries. This research examined the economic issues surrounding mercury contamination in fish, developed a population dynamics and bioeconomic model to investigate the problem, and compared a variety of management actions to reduce consumer exposure to contaminants. The dissertation begins with an overview of contamination issues in U.S. fisheries, including a review of the historical public health impacts and their related economic costs. Management strategies for dealing with contamination were discussed, along with an examination of the efficacy of these actions and their implied economic cost to the fishing industry. Given that mercury concentration is shown to increase with fish length, this study examines the implications of harvesting smaller (and less contaminated) fish. This was accomplished through the development and application of an age-structured bioeconomic model for king mackerel, a species experiencing particularly large concentrations of mercury contamination. First, a population dynamics model of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic king mackerel stocks was constructed and validated. Using the population dynamics model as a base, a comprehensive bioeconomic model was created through the incorporation of the economic characteristics of the fishery and mercury contamination relationships. Forward simulations were used to examine the plausibility of different management alternatives for the king mackerel stocks in the presence of mercury contamination. The simulations demonstrated the possibility of reducing the amount of mercury that reaches consumers by altering the age composition of the commercially marketed catch. Furthermore, the simulations illustrated that it may be possible for this to occur without seriously impacting the long-run stability of the stock. There are tradeoffs, however, in terms of the economic viability of the fishery. In the case of both the Atlantic and Gulf stocks, reductions in mercury came at the price of reduced fishery profits and losses in the aggregate net present value of the fishery over a 25 year time horizon.

Agricultural production can have result in environmental deterioration in cases where proper management practices have not been implemented. Louisiana, one of the tropical states, has a significant agricultural base with more than 1,600 farmers raising crawfish. Large volumes of waste water containing environmental pollutants result significant environmental problem in the state. Voluntary adoption of a number of best management practices (BMPs) that are considered to be environmentally and economically beneficial is encouraged in Louisiana. The major objectives of this study are to investigate farmer adoption of 18 selected Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) cost share eligible BMPs and the reasons for farmers adoption or non-adoption decisions. The study further analyzes the complementarity or substitutability of different BMPs. A mail survey to 770 Louisiana crawfish producers was conducted in Fall, 2008, based on Dillmans Total Design Method. The adjusted response rate was 15%. Probit, multinomial logit, and t-tests were conducted to analyze the results. The results of this study showed farmers land tenancy, education, age, income diversification, and risk-bearing characteristics significantly affecting their probability of adoption. The prerequisite assumption of independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) of the multinomial logit model was successful for only two BMPs: Irrigation Land Leveling, and Irrigation Water Conveyance via Pipe; and the results in these two BMPs showed farm size, rotation with other crops, education, farmers risk averse and early adoption behavior significantly affecting adoption or non-adoption decisions. Some BMPs were also found to have complementary relationships with other BMPs.

Little literature exists that analyzes the historical risk and return associated with investing in the US agricultural sector. However, several observable trends have recently made investing in the US agricultural sector an area of interest among investors. Stock price indexes are a commonly used tool for summarizing the historical performance of a specific sector. A market-capitalization weighted stock price index is created to represent the largest US agribusiness firms since 1970, using the US Census Standard Industrial Classification system and the Economic Research Services definition of agribusiness. Geometric returns, standard deviation, Sharpe Ratio, and beta values are calculated for one, five, and ten-year holding periods. These performance measures are compared to that of the market as a whole using the Standard & Poors 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average indexes as proxies. The results indicate that the historical returns associated with investing in the US agricultural sector were less than what could be expected by investing in a market index, however, the most recent data periods show the sector outperforming the market. Ex post, standard deviation measures indicate that the sector is less susceptible to price variability, while Sharpe Ratio measures show that it has enjoyed higher excess returns per unit of risk in recent years. The calculated beta values indicate that price movements in the sector, as summarized by the AG Index, lag behind general market movements.

It is well known that an amenity is a key driving engine to regional economic growth. However, the site-specific nature of an amenity can characterize them as public goods. Due to this characteristic, local governments have difficulty optimally supplying amenities. This dissertation tries to find relationships between an amenity and economic growth. Three empirical papers comprise the original research in this dissertation. The findings of the meta-analysis in the first essay suggest little methodological diversity exists among researchers linking amenities to economic growth., I do find that employment growth is more likely related to man-made amenities even in research on rural areas than natural amenities. Further, incorporating spatial estimators into amenity research improves modeling performance while reducing the net impact of amenities on economic growth. The second essay indicates a distinctive distribution between man-made amenities and natural amenities over counties of the United States. While man-made amenities are agglomerated in urban areas, natural amenities show heterogeneous dispersion. Both agricultural land and conservation land show an inverse relationship to man-made amenities across space. From an analysis using a local governments public policy along with an areas physical attributes, I find government tax policy having the greatest effect on film location decisions with natural amenities having little impact. The third essay analyzed the impact of a tax incentive program targeted to film industries on local economies using a quasi-experimental approach. This last essay provided three findings. First, this chapter found meaningful methodological specifications that should be considered in regional studies using a quasi-experimental approach. They are appropriate consideration of control periods, spatial units of comparison, and validities of dummy variables representing extraneous shocks. Second, the impact of the film industry tax program on local economies is insignificant for most industries. Third, the influence of tax subsidy policy on local economies is limited to a central area but is not beneficial to its adjacent areas.

The state of Louisiana has been hit by several severe hurricanes in recent years, and these disaster events have placed a financial burden on parish budgets. As such, local governments have been compelled to bear various cleanup and recovery costs in the short and long term. Therefore, this research sought to evaluate the factors that drive the variation in the financial health of local governments in Louisiana. This research made two contributions. The first contribution sought to develop a comprehensive measure of economic activity at the county level, and the second contribution used econometric methods to estimate the effect of selected macroeconomic indicators on the financial health of local governments. Gross domestic product (GDP) was selected as the economic activity metric because it was found to be a more comprehensive economic activity metric than the other economic metrics historically applied to measure the size and scope of a region. Three methods to estimate GDP at the county level were developed, and a systematic approach was used to select the best method. Whenever earnings data were fully disclosed, this research used a ratio of state earnings to state GDP to estimate GDP at the county level. When earnings data were not fully disclosed, however, a ratio of state employment to state GDP was used. To examine the effect macroeconomic indicators of local government financial health, nine financial ratios were generated using data from county financial statements. These ratios came from the categories of profitability, liquidity, capital structure, and performance. Two methods were developed to regress each of these ratios against selected economic and demographic indicators, including GDP, assessed valuation, hurricane damage, and lagged or initial values of the ratio being examined. The first method was a double-log random effects model, and the second method was an ordinary least squares model, which used the change over time in each of the variables as the parameters. Both methods found the damage variable to have a significant negative effect on county government financial health, supporting our hypothesis.

Field studies were conducted in Crowley, Louisiana and Stoneville, Mississippi in drill seeded rice to evaluate weed control, yield, and economical returns with imazethapyr programs. Red rice (Oryza sativa) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) was evaluated with imazethapyr applied alone at various rates and application timings. Imazethapyr, averaged across rate, controlled red rice 89% and barnyardgrass 90% when the initial application of imazethapyr was applied at emergence followed by (fb) a second application of imazethapyr two weeks after the initial application. While imazethapyr, averaged across timing, showed no differences for red rice and barnyardgrass control. Yield and economical returns were maximized when the initial application of imazethapyr was applied at rice emergence fb a second application of imazethapyr two weeks later. Research was conducted in Crowley, Louisiana in 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the addition of different propanil formulations in mixture with a standard imazethapyr program of 70 g/ha early postemergence fb 70 g/ha late postemergence. Weeds evaluated included red rice, barnyardgrass, Texasweed (Caperonia palustris), and alligatorweed (Althernanthera philoxeroides). Weed control of all weeds evaluated with treatments consisting of a propanil formulation in mixture with imazethapyr was equivalent to, or higher, than the standard imazethapyr program. Yield and economical returns were maximized when the propanil formulation of RiceShot® or Stam M4® was in mixture with imazethapyr in the initial application. The addition of propanil in mixture with imazethapyr increased rough rice yield and economical returns due to the increased weed control Research was conducted in Crowley, Louisiana in 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the addition of a herbicide with soil residual activity in mixture with imazethapyr applied very-early postemergence fb an application of imazethapyr or imazamox two weeks after the initial application. Weeds evaluated included red rice, barnyardgrass, Texasweed, and alligatorweed. Weed control with treatments including a herbicide with soil residual activity was equivalent to or higher than imazethapyr applied alone fb imazethapyr or imazamox. Yield and economical returns were maximized with quinclorac or penoxsulam mixed with imazethapyr fb imazethapyr or imazamox. The addition of quinclorac or penoxsulam proved to be beneficial in a total weed management program.

The economic question this study seeks to answer is why healthier food products are less expensive in some stores than in others and in some neighborhoods than others. The analysis builds upon the precedent of past retail food pricing studies that have been conducted in Southeastern Louisiana and in other parts of the country, by further examining disparities of retail food costs across store formats and neighborhoods with different demographic compositions. It utilizes a comparison of a general market basket of food items used in past studies and a "representative" market basket that is regionally specific to Southeastern Louisiana to see if the composition of a selected market basket of goods impacts results. Specifically, the objectives of this study are to: 1. Determine whether the cost of a market basket that is composed of more representative regional food items that meet the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) differs from that of a general market basket developed by Pennsylvania State University researchers to meet the Thrifty Food Plan menu based on the 1995 DGA. 2. Determine whether demographic characteristics of a neighborhood have an influence on the cost of a healthy market basket of foods in that neighborhood. 3. Determine whether demographic characteristics of a neighborhood have an influence on the competition of supermarkets in that neighborhood. 4. Determine whether store size, type, and competition influence the cost of a healthy market basket in Baton Rouge, LA. The results of the study show that neither the TFP nor the 2005 DGA market basket of food items cost more, on average, at stores that are located in lower income areas in the Baton Rouge, LA, metropolitan area. The composition of the market basket including more representative, regionally-specific food items does not notably impact results. It can be concluded that food costs are significantly influenced by the management structure and store format, with chain stores and supercenters having the lowest market basket costs. A visual inspection of the distribution of large grocery stores suggests that some areas are more disadvantaged than others, especially rural areas.

A survey data by Singer et al. (2007) was used to study the factors affecting the adoption of cover crops by the producers at the Corn Belt area of the United States. Data was collected from four states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota. Two binomial logit models were used for the econometric analysis. The first logit model was used to observe the factors affecting the adoption of cover crops by the producers. The second logit model was used to analyze the factors affecting the adoption of cover crops by producers in recent years, specifically, in past five years. The result of the study suggested that access to proper information about use and management of cover crops has positive and significant effect on adoption of cover crops. The results also suggest that producers who grow small grains like wheat and oats and producers who grow both crops and livestock are more likely to use cover crops. In recent periods, i.e., the past five years, the results suggest that number of acres farmed have a positive and significant effect on the adoption of cover crops. Also, in recent years, university extension programs did not have significant effect on the adoption of cover crops in the Corn Belt region of the United States.