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Economic Surpluses in the U.S. Sugar Market

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Rigoberto A. Lopez
Rigoberto A. Lopez*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Cook College, Rutgers University
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Abstract

The objective of this article is to estimate historical economic surpluses for the subsectors involved in the U.S. sugar market. Annual producer and consumer surpluses were computed based on a five-equation model and 1958–87 data. In the last decade, the welfare position of cane- and beet-sugar producers has been roughly maintained, the domestic consumer surplus and the export quasi-rents to foreign countries have both declined, and quasi-rents of the corn-sweetener industry now surpass those that accrue to the cane industry and are about the same as those of the beet-sugar industry. Some policy implications are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , April 1990 , pp. 28 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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Footnotes

The author is grateful to Miriam Stuart for research assistance, to two anonymous referees and Loren Tauer for their helpful comments, to John Hannon for editorial comments, and to Claire Kuncewitch for secretarial assistance. The content of the article, however, is the sole responsibility of the author.

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Publication No. D-02261-1-90, supported by state and U.S. Hatch Act funds, and by the Rutgers University Research Council.

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