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Previous analyses of market integration often ignore the spatial aspect of economic activity. A model of imperfect competition with changed implications for pricing structures is used to analyze spatial pricing relationships between ten feeder cattle markets. The econometric model is applied to reveal price structures over a six year period, a two year period, and to identify changes in price structures corresponding with the change from physical delivery to cash settlement of feeder cattle futures contracts. The six year analysis indicates that all markets are integrated through a lagged adjustment process. The two year analysis reveals short-term patterns of price independence or nearly instantaneous price matching among some locations. The change to cash settlement corresponds with changes towards either independence or instantaneous price matching activity for the markets involved. Four high volume central plains locations act as an integrated central market which the other locations match.

The paper outlines the historical development of Kenyan land tenure reform in relation to a group of smallholders in Maragoli. The transformation of common property into private property has not completely destroyed the authority of local institutions in matters of land tenure and land use. Customary social obligations have continued to play a role in the decision-making process of smallholders in Maragoli. The government in Kenya continues to be uninformed by the socioeconomic realities that affect smallholders. Agrarian law and administration should be built on the kinds of agricultural systems that are being practiced by the majority of the population in Kenya.

<p> Results from previous studies testing for under-reaction and overreaction in the commodity futures market are mixed and inconclusive. Using a data of more than 20 categories of future contacts ranging from agricultural, metal and energy, we have found significant evidence of under-reaction in food and agricultural commodities but not in the energy and metal sector. It is also found that those relatively inactive commodity future contracts tend to have a stronger tendency to under-react than commodity future contracts are very actively traded. The result also agrees with the behavioral hypothesis that under-reaction is caused by gradual incorporation of information among investors.</p>

The purpose of my research was to determine if landowners in the Colorado River delta were interested in participating in a program for restoring wetlands on their lands. I interviewed 30 landowners along the river and 16 on the marginal areas of the delta Results show that wetland restoration in private and ejido lands is feasible in the Colorado River delta, Mexico. This restoration could be embraced and enhanced by the participation of local communities. Although, interviewed farmers are willing to contribute with land and water, the water they can provide will not be enough to main existing riparian habitats. Farmers stated that they would not pump out any water delivered to the delta for environmental purposes because it would make their crops unprofitable. Thus, a binational agreement allocating in-stream flows for environmental purposes to the delta needs to be addressed and will be respected by Mexican farmers.

<p> Institutional characteristics of the food assistance component of the California Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (California WIC Program) incentivizes food retailers serving the Program to compete in ways potentially beneficial to consumers and Program operations, including enhancing the quality of available food brands and improving food access. First, I model a WIC retailer who does not compete in price for WIC consumers who are perfectly price inelastic due to the nature of food benefits. A theoretical model of non-price competition hypothesizes that pure non-price competition in brands mimics price competition, whereby these retailers carry a higher variety and quality level of brands under intense spatial competition; and that retailers will either minimally or maximally differentiate in horizontal (e.g., physical) space. Second, I develop the concept of vendor attrition, committed by participants, as a behavioral measure of retailers' contribution to food access in the WIC Program. An empirical approach using a unique dataset on retailers' locations and brand offerings, as well as participants' food benefit redemption patterns, confirms that retailers compete in brands. Namely, retailers carry more and better brands in salient product categories when facing more competitors, which, in turn, reduces attrition and increases market share. The results also suggest that maximal horizontal differentiation prevails, allowing the retailers to minimize costly brand competition. </p><p> Third, the nature of competition promotes food access within the California WIC Program for the following reasons: maximal horizontal differentiation serves to increase the geographic coverage of WIC retailers; and observed entry prior to a moratorium on new authorized retailers appeared to positively benefit Program access in the Greater Los Angeles region. In particular, entrant vendors experience lower vendor attrition, coincide with localized growth in participation, and may have induced new participation, evidenced by higher ratios of de novo participants. These effects on access systematically vary according to retailer characteristics and the food access status of retailers' locations. Policy aiming to reduce costs in state WIC Programs by restricting the behavior of retailers can be improved by considering the heterogeneity of retailers' impact on Program costs and access.</p>