Attributes for two value-added seafood products derived from underutilized crawfish are analyzed using conjoint data from seafood restaurants in the southern region of the United States. Preferences for the products' form, price, and flavor attributes were tested. Statistical tests revealed that the attribute interactions were not significant, and part-worth utilities for all main effects were estimated using an additive preference model. Results indicate that the new crawfish products should be marketed as a high-quality fresh soup base or seafood stuffing, priced between 30% and 50% of the cost of fresh crawfish tail meat.

This study examines the Law of One Price (LOP) in international commodity markets using fractional cointegration analysis. For proper evaluation of the LOP, fractional cointegration analysis seems to be appropriate because of its flexibility in capturing a wider range of mean reversion behavior than standard cointegration analysis. Out of nine pairs of price series examined, fractional cointegration supports the existence of the LOP in eight cases, as compared to three cases using standard cointegration procedures. Overall, these results suggest that there is a long-run tendency for the LOP to hold for commodity prices.

Complete agricultural trade liberalization between the United States and the European Union is examined with respect to the agricultural sector. A static, partial equilibrium model, distinguishing among the European Union, the United States, and a politically passive rest of the world, is used to simulate agricultural free trade. The results of this research reveal how European Union and United States adoption of free trade affects domestic and world prices, production, consumption, self-sufficiency, and welfare.

Geographic concentration in U.S. hog production from 1974-96 is investigated using a measure based on Theil's entropy index. For the U.S. as a whole, geographic concentration is occurring at a slow rate, both for hog farms and hog numbers. However, for particular states, primarily in the new Southern Atlantic production region, concentration is high and increasing at a rapid pace. Concentration was increasing for the 23-year period for 16 out of the 20 states in the analysis. Results indicate that geographic concentration by augmentation is occurring to the greatest degree in Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

It is difficult to describe the extent of my pleasure both in being here today and in having the honor of serving as your president this year. This occasion is particularly meaningful to me since I follow in the footsteps of two of my professors in this forum, Sandra S. Batie and Oral Capps, Jr., who have had a great deal of influence on my professional development.

The 1984 meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA) in Nashville, Tennessee, marked my first exposure to the meetings of this Association. One of my more vivid memories of that occasion was a dinner at the Opryland Hotel where Joseph Havlicek, Jr., enlightened us with his comments on the state of this Association and its future prospects, along with an in-depth reminiscence of the Association's history.

This study examines the motivation behind contracts and vertical integration in the pork industry, and simulates the effects of potential improvements in coordination. Incentives related to lowering costs of measuring and sorting hogs, and protecting against opportunistic behavior associated with specific assets, can result in hog quality improvements. A framework for simulating the effects of increased coordination through contracts and vertical integration was developed and used to evaluate potential improvements in leanness. Although simulations suggest only modest changes in pork prices and supplies, gains in consumers' surplus could be substantial for larger demand shifts due to quality improvements.

Using a stochastic version of the POLYSYS modeling framework, an examination of projected variability in agricultural prices, supply, demand, stocks, and incomes is conducted for corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton during the 1998–2006 period. Increased planting flexibility introduced in the 1996 farm bill results in projections of significantly higher planted acreage variability compared to recent historical levels. Variability of ending stocks and stock-to-use ratios is projected to be higher for corn and soybeans and lower for wheat and cotton compared to the 1986–96 period. Significantly higher variability is projected for corn prices, with wheat and soybean prices also being more variable. No significant change in cotton price variability is projected.

One method of implementing value-based marketing is a component pricing system. This research develops and evaluates alternative component pricing systems for pork. Two electronic technologies for estimating carcass components (optical probe and electromagnetic scanner) were evaluated on two sets of data representing different populations. Model accuracy increased as additional components were added.

Changes in income distribution are estimated for the U.S. South over the 1970 and 1980 decades using Gini coefficients for county-level, real family income. To explicitly investigate causal relationships between economic growth and inequality, a two-stage least squares model was estimated. In the 1970s, more rapid increases in inequality were associated with a reduced income growth rate, ceteris paribus, while in the 1980s, the opposite was true. Faster rates of income growth were associated with more rapid increases in inequality during the 1980s, but rates of income growth had no effect on changes in inequality during the 1970s.

This paper investigates the farm-level impacts of the 1996 farm bill on the South. Focus group perceptions of risk sources, observed acreage changes, and the farm-level impact of increased price risk are evaluated. Focus group respondents ranked price and yield as the two most important sources of risk, and diversification was ranked highly as a risk-management tool. Limited data suggest that acreage shifts among crops are occurring in the South, presumably aided by the 1996 farm bill. Higher probabilities of cash flow deficits are estimated for cotton and rice relative to feedgrain, wheat, and oilseed operations.