Agribusiness and Managerial Economics
| Strategic Management |
| Demand Analysis and Production Economics |
| Market Organization, Structure and Contract Theory |
| International Agribusiness |
| Agricultural Finance |
| Forecasting in Agribusiness |
| Agribusiness represents a growing area of interest for PhD students. This field covers the application of theory and decision analysis in the food and fiber industry. Linkages among the sectors in this industry and their interdependency are combined with a specific functional focus on the operation of agribusiness firms. This includes farm input manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and fiber manufacturers, and wholesale and retail trade firms. Focus is placed on the theoretical underpinnings of business decision making, quantitative analysis of alternative business strategies, measurement of trends in consolidated business performance, and the implications that public policy has upon business strategies. |
|
Strategic Management The purpose of Strategic Management in Agribusiness is to provide a qualitative assessment on market effects of alternative market strategies, based upon both quantitative and descriptive information. Focus is placed on both theoretical and empirical case-study-style groundwork of business decision making, quantitative analysis of alternative business strategies, measurement of trends in consolidated business performance, and the implications that public policy has upon business strategies. Strategic Business Management and Agribusiness Environment - Eluned Jones |
[ Back to top]
|
|
Demand Analysis and Production Economics This field places emphasis on empirical analysis of single-equation and multi-equation demand relationships. Research topics include estimation of demand systems, particularly the linear expenditure system, the Almost Ideal Demand System, and the Rotterdam model, and calculation and interpretation of elasticities; household production economics, both theory and empirical applications; the theory and application of consumer goods characteristics models; and the estimation of demand models with advertising and health information. Linkages with the retail and farm-level sectors also are explored via the use of elasticities of price transmission. The area of production economics and farm and ranch management is a traditional strength of our Department, which recently ranked in the top three nationally in production economics. The scope of the faculty’s current research in the area is broad, focusing on both firm-level and aggregate analyses, with ongoing research relating to financial management, resource allocation, and environmental and policy issues. Strong interdisciplinary and extension linkages support this research agenda. Quantitative techniques including econometrics, mathematical programming, dynamic optimization, and simulation are extensively utilized in conducting this research. Demand Analysis - Oral Capps, Jr., George C. Davis |
[Back to top]
|
|
Market Organization, Structure, and Contract Theory This field covers basic and advanced elements of industrial organization theory, as well as empirical applications to agricultural and natural resource markets. Students can undertake studies in many areas including: structure and organization of agricultural and natural resource markets; economic implications of horizontal and vertical integration and contracting on markets; the implications of advertising, product differentiation, and flexible manufacturing in food and fiber markets; and the influence of market structure and government regulation on producers, the food and fiber industries and consumers. Major emphasis is on integrating the theory of industrial organization with quantitative methods to uncover underlying market structures and quantifying market effects of alternative market strategies. Market Structure - Oral Capps, Jr., Rodolfo M. Nayga |
[Back to top] |
|
International Agribusiness This field explores basic elements of international business including trade theory and the effects of protection within the context of competitive markets; empirical models of international trade; the effects of imperfect competition on international trade and trade policy; trade policy; the effects of direct foreign investment on national welfare and product flows; and the political economy of protective policies and reducing protection; and their effects on Agribusiness. International Trade - Gary W. Williams, C. Parr Rosson, III
|
[Back to top]
|
|
Agribusiness Finance Students wishing to pursue finance as an area can combine PhD courses taught in the Department of Agricultural Economics, covering such topics as farm financial management, and agricultural lending institutions with courses in the Finance Department. Topics covered in farm financial management include business and financial risk management strategies and application of related decision tools. Topics covered in agricultural lending institutions include credit and portfolio analysis and institutional strategies for coping with credit, collateral, liquidity, and interest rate risk. Our Department’s faculty includes professors specializing in each of these areas. Agricultural and Applied Finance - David J. Leatham |
[Back to top]
|
|
Forecasting in Agribusiness Appropriate forecasting is an extremely important factor for the success of any business related to the Food and Fiber Industry. Forecasting with the right techniques is needed to provide with a correct assessment for decision-making purposes. Time-Series Analysis is commonly used since most of the data sets we study in Agricultural Economics are observed over time, where the order of observation is an integral part of the analysis. So, for instance, data on prices in efficient markets are such that prices observed in close time proximity to one another are closer to each other than are prices observed at long time intervals. Data from such markets will show no particular devotion to their historical mean. Many standard (non-time series) statistical and econometric methods rely on an informative mean for their desirable properties. Failure to correctly account for the time series properties of one’s data may result in the fitting of spurious relations between or among economic data sets. AGEC 661 gives partial treatment to this literature; in addition, AGEC 622 offers lectures on the methods. Courses from the Departments of Statistics and Econometrics supplement our courses. Agribusiness Forecasting, and Forecast Evaluation - Oral Capps, Jr., David A. Bessler |
[Back to top] |
